


Aid

by your_dragon_just_shot_at_me



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-17
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-06-11 18:48:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15321915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/your_dragon_just_shot_at_me/pseuds/your_dragon_just_shot_at_me
Summary: Answering a distress call seemed simple enough. The truth is much more complicated.





	1. Distress Call

**Author's Note:**

> Part 1 takes place during Season 2, before Episode 6 (Ark of Taujeer). 
> 
> Inspiration taken from Farscape.

Blaring, the alert shook each Paladin.“ A distress call is coming in,” Coran alerted the bridge. “A ship near us and she’s adrift.” 

Pidge pulled up a new display, squinting as she deciphered the read out. “Strange, the coordinates indicated are nearby but I don’t see a ship.”

“ Maybe it’s hiding?” Lance kicked his feet up onto the console as it appeared defenses were not needed. 

Pidge scowled at Lance, “It’s in the middle of open space. Not many places to hide.” The computer locked on to a single mass floating. “This doesn’t look like a ship though.”

Shiro looked to Allura for guidance. Recent rescue operations had mostly ended in costly repairs to the castle and long battles that tested the young paladins. “Allura?”

“ The message appears to be in Mangalarian.” She rapped her pedestals. “They were great allies to Altea. I would like to help.” She called up the coordinates and set the castle ship on its course. “The Mangalarians were capable of interstellar travels but that does not look as their ships did.” 

“ Mangalarian? Sounds vicious.” Hunk peered at his own display, willing it to change to English. “Are you sure this is a good idea? Remember our repair efforts with Rolo?” 

Shiro understood his trepidation, “Yes, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t help these people because one distress call turned out to be a trap.”

“ No, no. You’re right.” Hunk admitted, timidly. “You’re sure they are…?” Hunk turned to Allura but decided not to finish that sentence. “Yea, no. Let’s go! I love repairing stranger’s ships that I know nothing about. Yea,” his false excitement dwindled. 

Keith stood and joined Shiro near the viewing screen. As the castle approached the derelict ship more questions than answers started to form. The ship in question reminded the paladins of the mollusks on Earth. A semicircular domed shape curved gently to several tentacle like appendages that connected at the rear of the ship. It looked more like a gigantic, staged squid than a ship.

Black markings from a very recent battle stood out on the dark exterior. Little light came from the ship's exterior or interior, camouflaging it well in empty space.

“ You think anyone is still alive over there?” Keith asked, lowly.

Shiro shrugged, “Someone sent the distress call.”

Coran answered them, “We shall see soon enough. The ship is too large for entry to any of the cargo bay. I am not positive they have a docking bay big enough for any of the lions. I am not even sure there is a docking bay. I am requesting they dock with us.”

Hunk cowered again, “Yes. Yay, Mangalarians. Anyone else think we might need our bayards for this greeting?”

“ Relax, Hunk.” Lance flexed, “They won’t get passed these guns.” He kissed each arm for emphasis. 

Pidge rolled her eyes and pushed her glasses up, “I hope they take us all out before we see that again.”

“ Hunk was right about one thing, let’s suit up.” Shiro instructed. 

Hunk appreciated the armor but was disappointed Allura ordered him to put the bayard away. The response from the derelict ship took several doboshes to receive. Even more doboshes before the airlock sealed. Allura and Coran patiently waited for the airlock to open. Lance bugged everyone huffing and complaining. Keith punched Lance, sending him tumbling when the airlock opened.

From the name Mangalarian, Hunk expected a large species. Possibly akin to the Balmerans, but more aggressive. Instead, a lone man, humanoid and nearly indistinguishable from the paladins stood on the other side of the airlock. He was Shiro’s height and build, brown leather like pants and jacket. He’d been wearing a mask over his mouth and nose, removed moments before the airlock hissed open and had left marks around his face. Vibrant blue hair stood out in the darkness behind him.

“ Thank the stars,” he breathed. The paladins wrinkled or wretched at the stale, oxygen depleted air mixing with their own. Odors wafted in from the chamber that seemed organic but unrecognizable. “I apologize, life support failed several vargas ago. We feared abandoning ship soon.” 

“ We?” Keith questioned. The bay behind the man looked massive and bare.

Pidge peered around the in the dark with her flashlight, a steady noise heading toward them. Hunk just breathed a sigh of relief and fell to ease.

“ My name is Allura, I am from,” footsteps rapidly approaching stopped her short. 

A small woman, equally vibrant purple hair bound in a bun at the nap of her neck ran through the bay. Similarly dressed in fitted brown leather boots, pants, gloves and jacket, she shined in a way the older gentleman did not. Blue jewels embedded in her chest illumined in the dark. A flower like motif which ran along her chest and up her neck, dazzling more the closer she got to the group. “By the stars, that ship was Altean!” She had ripped her own mask off and breathed heavily.

“ These Mangalarians are real beasts,” Shiro nudged at Hunk.

Lance shoved Pidge clear from his path, “Hello, I’m Lance, Paladin of the,” the young woman pushed passed Lance and headed straight to Allura. Lance couldn't help but feel betrayed. Not that it would stop him, of course.

“ Oh, my. You are a high princess from Mangalar?” Allura beamed at the woman. 

“ I am. You are the princess of Altea? We believed your family all to be deceased.” She bowed graciously to Allura. 

The older gentleman bowed, “May I introduce, Princess Danea of the high House of Elefor.”

“ Princess Allura,” she returned the bow. “What has happened here? This is not the standard transport of a Mangalarian High House.” 

“ This is my teacher, engineer, captain, everything now, Vendel. He can explain better than I.” Danea backed a pace away. Lance conveniently moved into her path and made a large show of her bumping into him. Keith dragged Lance back to the others, embarrassed for everyone by Lance's actions. 

“ Thousands of years ago, after the fall of Voltron, the High Houses scattered when the Galra attacked our system for resources and information on Altea. Records of that time are woefully incomplete. We believe many High Houses were enslaved by the Galra and forced to produce.” 

“ Produce what?” Pidge asked. 

Allura pointed at Danea, “It was well known that the Mangalarian High Houses contained genetic lines capable of creating varying crystalline structures. They were used in many technologies, only on Mangalar when I was a child. Primarily in regards to information but some were known for genetic manipulation and healing, communications and refraction. High House Elefor, yours would be a house of knowledge.”

“Like the Balmera?” Hunk squinted at the crystals.

Danea nodded simply, touching the gems absently. “In a way. Balmeras create different crystalline structures,” a flush rose, “Ah, Elefor crystals are used primarily for information storage, transfer, computing and processing power.”

Vendel continued, “Few High Houses escaped. Were the Mangalar fleet not destroyed during the invasion we would have abandoned them in favor of unmarked transports anyway.”

“ What is this ship?” Coran gaped at the interior, still blanketed in darkness except for the few flashlights and light from the Paladin helmets. 

Danea smiled lovingly, “Have you heard of the Leviathan beasts, which nested in the asteroid clusters in the Mangalar system?”

“ Beasts?” Hunk shined his light around frantically. 

Coran whipped around excitedly, “You don’t say! A real Leviathan beast? Thought no one had tamed them.”

“ Wait, wait, wait. Why is no one worried about the ‘beast’? Does it eat people? Are we tasty?” Hunk leaned into the wall, rolling around desperately. 

“Since Mangalarians achieved space travel we have helped care for the beasts with others in our system. We have f ound hosts to aid them, cared for the sick. The moon around our third planet was a final resting ground for them. Alas, the Galra have hunted them severely. They hide well now, the few left.” Vendel tapped a wall panel lovingly. “Use of the Leviathans as transports was previously only approved for treatment and care of other Leviathans by Mangalarians. On the run from Galra we needed ships that could survive generations.” 

“ This seems like an awfully large ship for two people.” Shiro commented, concern had crept into him after Hunk's earlier statements about Rolo. It wasn't a bad idea to be more cautious.

Danea tugged anxiously on her gloves, “Galra attack. Lost most of the crew when they boarded. Vendel forced me to hide in a neural cluster for many vargas. After we thought the Galra left, plundering supplies, they attacked one last time. Cut a hole in Moira,” she indicated the ship around her.

“ Who’s Moira?” Hunk asked, his panic attack over. 

“ The ship.” Danea stamped her foot happily. 

Pidge made a quick calculation, “It’s just the two of you now?” They nodded simultaneously, “If the environmental systems just went down a couple hours ago why do you need breathing apparatuses? Oxygen content should have been able to sustain you for several days or weeks with proper isolation.”

Danea pointed down the ship, “Did you see the ventral side? The hole the Galra cut has not been repaired properly or healed by the ship yet. We had a breach a varga ago, 90% of our oxygen supply depleted and with environmental scrubbers and vents down no way to make or clean oxygen. We are barely holding together. And without a sun nearby I am not sure how we are to replenish energy stores for Moira to heal. And for the life of me I cannot understand why the environmental system is malfunctioning.”

“ Sun? Like a plant?” Keith raised his eyebrow, “I thought she was an animal.” 

“ She is. Like,” Danea looked at each Paladin in turn, a mischievous grin growing when she locked eyes with Pidge, “phytoplankton!” 

“ Huh? That was what I was thinking.” Pidge instinctively backed away from Danea though Allura fell into a fit of giggles. 

“ House Elefor was known for knowledge partly because of empathic abilities. Telepathic however,” her giggles returned. 

Danea rushed to Pidge, “I am so very sorry. I did not mean to...to...,” a small squeak escaped.

Vendel clapped Coran on the shoulder, “ Very pure genetic line was used to make her. Telepathy is low but still there. Raising her isolated as we have been she has little reign on her control. But you Paladins must not be Altean. She would have a much harder time if you were.”

“ We are from Earth.” Shiro replied. “You hid her to keep her from being a weapon in the hands of the Galra too, I expect.”

“ We suspect the Galra have not bred Mangalarians with as pure of genetic lines as we would use.” Vendel indicated Danea, “I suspect if they did they would be on the front lines. We know of their alliance with the Galra Druids instead.” 

“ Fascinating,” Coran poked at the young girl like a small science project. Danea pulled away from his prodding, retreating towards Pidge and Hunk. 

“ Coran,” Shiro tore his attention from the distraught princess, “why don’t we start figuring out how we can help.” 

“ Yes, of course.” Coran nodded. “With the airlock open to the castle, there should be plenty of air filling the ship, at least short term.” 

Hunk tapped Pidge on her shoulder causing her to stumble forward. “We can start on the environmental systems.”

“ Yes,” Lance swooped in behind Danea, encircling her shoulders in his arm. “I would love to find out what is wrong with the environmental systems.” He tried sounding seductive. 

Pidge grimaced at the display, “You can carry tools and spare parts then,” and thrust a box from their own cargo bay at Lance.

Shiro waved to Keith and Vendel, “We can help assess the damage in the rest of the ship.”

Allura nodded, satisfied, “We will be on the bridge keeping watch and can provide assistance as needed.”

 


	2. Repairs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Got caught up working on a lot of things with this story and other projects and life.   
> *Mild mentions of blood (nothing too graphic but things get darker in the following chapters, first warning).

“This ship is massive.” Hunk could hear his footsteps echo in the passageway. This was the fourth one, all identical. Unlike the passageways in their castle ship, bright and boxy, this ship had curved walls. The walls themselves were made of thick tendrils with a thick membrane covering the spaces between. Danea kept a quick pace even in the dark, causing Pidge to keep up by nearly jogging. Lance, to Pidge's delight, was walking too fast to concentrate on flirting. Every time he tried to say something Danea would choose an offshoot to their passageway, darting in the new direction. Lance smacked into a wall on more than one occasion.

Danea gave a tour as they walked, “We needed the space. When we started we housed over 200 Mangalarians. Unfortunately, as generations went on we lost many people to skirmishes, food shortages and during the last ship retirement a Galra attack that left supplies severely depleted. Down that hallway is a large medical ward, it houses our genetic supply.”

“Genetic supply?” Pidge asked.

“Each house ship carried as many samples of our genome as possible. A means to keep our people alive.” Danea stopped suddenly, turning about. “Oops.”

“Are you lost?” Hunk complained.

“No.” Danea backtracked to the door they had just passed. “Ah, main engines.” She backed out once again.

Pidge laughed at Hunk's breakdown. “We have been walking forever and you are lost? You live here! Haven't you spent your entire life here? How can you possibly be lost? ”

Lance positioned himself in front of Danea again, “Are you doing this on purpose to spend more time with me?”

“No?” she ducked under his arm. “And until the last twenty quintants I was working hydroponics. I have not cycled to engineering yet.”

“Yet? How old are you?” Lance broke out in a run to catch up.

“Sixteen Deca-phoebs. Here it is!” Danea's hand waved at a small oblong sensor in the wall. A central panel for command input lined one wall while large, gleaming silver, and very out of place machinery stood on the opposite side.

“Sixteen?” Lance scowled.

Pidge plowed through Lance and headed toward the native panels. “Can you tell me what was malfunctioning?” She inspected the panel, unsure if it was organic like the rest of the ship. Danea, in turn, inspected Pidge's laptop and cables thoroughly before wresting a panel off the console.

“After the breach was sealed again I started entering requests for increased oxygen production, cordoning off non-vital section of the ship and concentrating air flow to hydroponics, engineering, and the bridge. Instead, Moira turned off all environmental systems and opened the hanger door we had sealed shut after the breach. We lost more of our air supply.” As she spoke she dug in the console, fishing wires out and starting to slice them open to create a connection with Pidge's laptop.

“Strange.” Pidge watched her work, “I thought you worked in hydroponics?”

Danea completed the connections, miraculously new alien text filled the laptop screen. “I did. I have a working knowledge of all our engineering, physics, biological sciences and chemistry.” Pidge scoffed before turning to her laptop.

“Wow, smart and beautiful.” Lance drooled over the top of the console at Danea.

“Not really.” Danea simply continued to work. Just like on the Altean ship, a bright projection lit the space above the console with output.

Pidge pulled up her translation program, knowing it was unlikely to work properly with this new language. It was finally robust enough for decent Altean and Galra translations but there was no common ground for Mangalarian that she knew of. “If only you were adept with languages, too.”

Danea smiled warmly, studying the bright screen before turning back to her own console. Fingers flew over the panels that were still in place before she stopped all together. The glow from her crystals pulsed a few times while she just touched the panel. “Will this translation matrix suffice?” A new program populated the screen, automatically starting and beginning translation of the output from her own larger display.

“Whoa, I thought...How?” Pidge stammered.

“I have some Altean texts that were kept in the archives.”

“So, you read...?” Smile faltering, Lance hated the triumphant gleam Pidge got knowing he had no leg to stand on now.

“A lot.” Danea turned to her own display.

Hunk set to work opening panels on the machinery. He followed wiring and conduits to a membranes and catalyst cylinders. Two cylinders, appearing to be in parallel operation, stuck out to him. One cylinder's contents were pure white beads but the other was a dusty bits of gray. “Well, this could be one problem.” He un-clamped the gray cylinder, “I assume this is not right.”

Danea looked at the cylinder, curious and unsure. Hunk waited for some response but she stood silent for over a minute. Crystals around her ears luminesced then faded again.

“No, that is the catalyst which reacts to make oxygen.” Danea cocked her head to the side, still thinking. “Stores of the catalyst for oxygen production are empty.”

Hunk continued following piping. Valves were open leading vents into the scrubbers but nothing moved. He continued following the vent piping out of the enclosed system and back to the wall. Lance tipped the catalyst cylinder around, making the gray dust swirl faster and faster.

The wall looked immovable but that may not mean anything on this floating beast. “Can I keep following this vent? It looks like valves are open but no flow is coming in.”

Danea let out a sigh, “I will request the panel open.” She typed quickly, Pidge watching not only the request but the response from Moira. A text bubble popped up on her screen: Request complete. The door to the room sealed and Danea's requests to open the door failed.

“Oh, quiznak.” Pidge sighed.

“She just locked us in here, didn't she?” Hunk asked Lance, his flashlight shining into the cylinder, a storm cloud brewing from Lance's shaking.

“And if we're lucky, we are near another airlock and she'll accidentally vent us into space before Lance can answer you.” Pidge scowled at panel, blaming it for their current predicament.

Danea smirked at Pidge from her console, “No airlock. I could accidentally decompress the room.”

“She’s joking, right?” Hunk turned his light to Danea.

Lance set the cylinder aside to return to the consoles Danea and Pidge worked. Scrutinizing her closely, his face ended up mere centimeters from hers. Even in her peripheral vision it made her uncomfortable. “I can’t tell. But the glow of your crystals really...oof!” Pidge kicked Lance in the shin.

  
\---------

 

Vendel appreciated the help. Shiro and Keith followed through the corridors, needing the guide. Shiro could not find markings on any corridors to indicate where they were and knew he would never make it back to their own ship without assistance. Plus further in Moira they went, the thinner the air got. Fortunately, they did not make it far enough in to require their full helmets.

Keith saw a flicker from a wall console. He paused, swiping at the light. The door in front of him slid away.

Vendel pointed down the next passageway, “We can start in the laboratory. The Galra concentrated troops there when they infiltrated. I don't understand...where is your partner?” Shiro shined his light back to the empty hallway.

Keith's light moved slowly through the door, his bayard's blade extended. The smell over powered him, he couldn't place it at first. He felt a cold chill stepping over the threshold. Blankets lay over dozens of bulges along the floor and on a few tables. Keith's bayard retracted on its own. Black ate at his vision as he felt strong hands pull him backward. Shiro yanked Keith hard enough they both fell into the wall outside the room.

Vendel forced the door closed with a wave of his hand, cloth over his mouth and nose. “We have not found a proper place to bury our crew members.”

“Take some deep breaths.” Shiro smiled wanly. “Sit down.” Keith could hear Shiro's breath shudder.

“We couldn't...just...,” Vendel wanted to explain. Were there words that could really explain this horror?

“It's not something we're used to seeing.” Shiro kept calm. Keith's breathing was still shaky, uneven. Shiro called Keith's focus, trying to steady his friend. “We have seen some of the atrocities Zarkon has inflicted to take control of the galaxy. But we have not been exposed to this before.”

Vendel knelt with the Paladins, “No one should know the anguish of losing so many loved ones like this.”

Keith felt his heart slow, his vision cleared and his breathing returned to normal. All he felt now was embarrassed by his reaction. Hands clasped, Shiro helped Keith to his feet, taking an extra moment to make sure he had his footing. “I agree,” Shiro said, “No one should go through this.”

\------

“I can't believe you locked us in here.” Hunk complained, loudly. “And we don't even have any snacks.”

“Hunk.” Lance said, calmly.

“This! This is why no one should live on a ship that is alive!” Hunk continued.

“Hunk.” Lance repeated.

“I mean, why would anyone want to even ride a horse? They can just go do whatever they want, they don't have to listen to you!” Hunk paced quickly. Lance heard the familiar rise in pitch as Hunk began to hyperventilate.

Pidge typed continuously during the latest Hunk meltdown. “You fly in a robotic lion that maintains an, at least, minimal telepathic link and has shown that they have the ability to move on their own.”

“Why are we doing that?” Hunk screamed, startling everyone.

Danea, ignoring most of Hunk's rant, abandoned the console for a control panel on the wall. Reaching into her boot she pulled a knife from the leather. “If you are hungry, I can offer you a meal. After we repair the environmental systems, of course.”

“Dinner?” All of Hunk's pacing, complaining and fear faded. “Really? Like, what are we talking here?”

Lance took the knife from Danea's grasp, “Let me help you with that.”

“The Leviathan's nerve are sensitive. Removing the cover plate needs to be done carefully or,” Lance yanked forcefully, ripping organic matter with the plate. The floor beneath them shifted as Moira tilted in response. “Moira will shift.”

Pidge caught her laptop before it skidded across the room. “That's a good sign.”

“Lance just tried to kill us while opening the door! That is not good!” Hunk's anxiety peaked again.

“It's good?” Danea asked.

“The ship responded while dead in the water.”

Hunk inhaled and exhaled deeply, “It was reflexive. Oh, it was reflexive. The ship reacted as it should which means...what?”

“Well, it at least means that not all functions are being confused in its...brain.” As the ship righted itself, Pidge let go of the console she'd gripped to keep from sliding across the floor.

“That doesn't sound like it helps us a whole lot. We're still stuck inside here and the ship won't do what it's told.” Lance pouted when Danea swiped her knife back.

“That sounds familiar.” Pidge grumbled.

With plate removed and the ship not tumbling them about, Danea pressed her hands in the wall manipulating something none of the Paladins could see. Moments later the door opened, and stayed open.

“Freedom!” Hunk exclaimed. “Fresh air!”

“Fresh air?” Lance wrinkled his nose, “It smells worse than it did before.”

Danea was quick to cross the room again and start the process once more at the wall Hunk indicated he wanted to look inside. Her nose wrinkled with the influx of air, the smell of decay pungent again. “Let's get this wall open, Paladin.”

Hunk offered to help, adding, “You can call me Hunk.”

\----

Shiro activated his radio, “Report?” Keith gaped at the hole cut in the side of the ship. Vendel and Danea had forced bulkheads on two ends of the corridor closed to keep the breach sealed. They'd attempted reinforcement of the bulkheads but for all he knew the corridor could decompress again.

Lance's voice came over the com in both of their helmets, “Hunk is checking out the environmental system with the princess. Looks like we will need Coran to check if they have some catalyst. Pidge has been working on the computer, brain...thing. Looks like commands are getting...confused.”

“Is that why you tipped the ship?” Keith accused Lance.

“That was all Lance,” Pidge piped in.

“He ripped something off the wall. Ship did not like it.” Hunk added.

Shiro couldn't stifle a chuckle, “We're looking in on the breach in the hull. Coran, looks like we'll need some help with their bio containment system.”

“Will do.” Coran's cheerful voice crackled over the intercom. “Contact me when you want to start repairs.”

Hunk remembered her earlier offer, “Hey, Princess said she'd make us dinner.”

Pidge grumbled, “Are you really going to hold her to that?”

“She can point me to the food, I'll cook it!” Hunk drooled at the thought of fresh food that was not the consistency of jelly.

“After the environmental system is up and running we can talk about that.” Shiro smiled, “Shiro out.”   
Shiro moved his light over the bulkhead doors, worrying with Keith about it's integrity. For safety, they both enabled their full helmet, at least to give them peace of mind. Shiro could see the cuts made by a Galra cruiser. Before the ship was cut into a small battle had raged here. Blaster marks singed most of the walls Shiro shined his light on. Blood spatters could be seen too.

“The bulkheads will hold for now.” Vendel had been pulling readings from the panels and using some small device. “A tow to a star would be most beneficial. Moira can heal this on her own then.”

“That, I think we can do.” Shiro replied.

Keith squinted at the debris in the sealed section. He felt as if something was hovering out of view. He tried to angle his body to see what was above the window in the bulkhead. “Shiro, look. I think there is a Galra soldier or sentry still in there.” He pointed and moved to let Shiro look. A foot could just be made out floating near the ceiling.

“How did that…?” Shiro questioned Vendel.

“There were several men in this corridor when the Galra attacked.” Vendel peered through the window as well in the direction Keith indicated, “Someone must have caught him off guard.” Vendel looked solemn again. “A dozen men were lost here when the Galra made their final attack.”

“He could have something on him, some device, Pidge or Coran could get information from.” Keith's eyes moved around the hallway. “If we can just find some way out there.”

Vendel silently made several calculations, ending with him shaking his blue hair furiously, “Even with your packs there are no good airlocks where you can safely make a clean jump to this location. With how little debris in this sector I do not believe your chances of reaching the breach,” Shiro held up a hand to pause the man.

“Let's get the Black Lion, you can make a straight jump from him and search this area.” Keith lit up at this. This would be far more interesting than checking damage on the ship.

\---------

 

“What do you see, man?” Lance called from the room, light trained on several dials, waiting for any sign of movement.

Hunk followed the piping to a branch, mumbling as he walked. “I see walls and goo. Oh, I'm stepping in goo.” Danea kept a few paces behind him, her own light sweeping over the walls. Hunk tripped over a bump in the floor, armor clanging against the pipe. “I'm good, I'm fine.”

“Strange.” Danea's light stopped on the bump Hunk fell over.

“Strange bad?” Hunk started to worry again.

“Just strange.” Danea's light moved towards Hunk's hand, another bump next to him. “Nerve clusters where they should not be growing.”

“Nerve cluster? Really? Gross.” Hunk scrambled to his feet.

“Do you keep forgetting you are walking around inside a living animal?” Lance tapped the dials, bored.

“Actually, yes, I keep trying to forget.” Hunk moved slightly further down the maintenance hall. “Oh, and there is the problem.”

Pidge, annoyed by Lance's constant playing, asked, “Which is?”

Danea stepped over fragmenting metal, “Nerve clusters grew through the pipes.” She bent lower to inspect the clusters. “Recently.”

“Lots of them. The pipes are demolished here.” Hunk sighed, “We need a lot of new piping.”

Pidge smirked, “That's Lance's job.”  
“What?” Lance sat straight. “What's my job?”

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *As promised this chapter has more mentions of blood and such (not violent per se but mentions of death and blood and corresponding reactions to it).   
> **Next chapter might come slower as I am catching up to what I have written of this part 1.

“You're good to go,” Keith heard over his radio. “You ready?” Shiro checked the trajectory once more.

“Ready.” Keith leaned into his knee, crouching low. Anxiously, he waited for the rush of air leaving the Black Lion's mouth and the pull into the vacuum of space. He prepared, knowing he would need to land on the wall softly. Fear spiked as he thought of all the potential debris floating in the abandoned section. He would need to make sure nothing bounced into the bulkheads, as their integrity was still in question.

Shiro opened the Lion's mouth and Keith jettisoned out into the void between the ships. Shiro could hear Keith's breathing, slow and methodical. Keith passed through the fissure in the ship, turned and used his thruster to slow himself before he bounced off the wall. He landed deftly.

“I'm in.” Keith held the wall, surveying the decompressed corridor. Above him and to the right was the Galra soldier he could see through the window. A blade, as long as his own, buried to the hilt held the soldier in place. Keith pushed off the wall and to the soldier, grabbing the hilt to stop. Uncomfortable as it was, he dug through pouches and pockets for any devices. A gauntlet on one arm twinkled with LEDs. He pried it off, trying to spend as little time near the corpse as possible. “I got something.” Quickly, he scanned the corridor again, another soldier, similarly held into the wall with a blade was near the other bulkhead. “There's another soldier. Going to take a look.”

“Copy that.” Shiro responded.

Keith couldn't help noticing the color of the walls changed as he floated past. Splotches of rusty red painted the wall and floor. It was better not to look, focus on the second hilt he would grab to stop his movement.

 

\------

“My arms are getting tired.” Lance whined, annoyingly, and continuously for the last quarter hour. He held the pipe but it shook enough that Hunk could not get the fitting on properly.

Pidge came in over the comm, “Going to whine like that when the princess gets back to you guys?”

“When is she coming?” Lance pulled his phone from his armor, holding the pipe just as shakily with one hand while he checked his armor in the camera.

“She should be there already.” Lance hated when Pidge used her sly voice.

Blue glows bounced off the floor a few feet from Lance and Hunk. Lance could see the crystals embedded in her chest and neck brighten. “Oh, Princess Danea!” Lance dropped the pipe entirely causing Hunk to yelp when it fell on his foot. “My, your certainly glowing.”

“I have been processing a lot of data.” Danea responded, blatantly ignored Lance's flirting and opting to examine a nerve cluster. She took a small sample before saying, “Your Coran has replaced the catalyst and I have reinstalled the cylinder, Hunk.”

“Excellent, we are almost done here, Lance!” Hunk slapped his friend, getting his attention back to the piping.

Danea turned and returned to the environmental system control room, leaving Lance to sulk.

“It's like I don't even exist.” he moaned.

“I can't believe you are trying to pick up a girl that has been through so much in such a short amount of time. I mean she lost almost everyone she knew.” Hunk and Lance got the fitting and piping together.

Lance sighed, romantic thoughts playing through his mind, “Have you seen her? She's gorgeous! And, hey, I could totally cheer her up.” Hunk couldn't help rolling his eyes. “Yet, she doesn't even give me the time of day. You, on the other hand.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Hunk stopped working, “The princess does not give me the time of day.”

“She talks to you.” Lance pouted. He thought back on the time they'd spent together as they walked back to the control room.

“Ok, yes, about catalyst and funky nerve growths. Not exactly romance. And...finished.” Hunk set his tools on the floor near the consoles. Pidge was standing at the ripped open console, laptop balancing on the the pile of wires and panel. She looked between the readout on her screen and the screen Danea read. “We should test the pressure and flow before opening full throttle.”

Danea nodded, her crystals flashed brighter. Pidge grimmaced, “I'm not sure if the commands will be recognized properly yet.”

“We could open it manually.” Hunk suggested, though it lacked enthusiasm.

“Let's try the commands, anyways.” Pidge input a command and waited. Almost immediately a _Request complete_ notification popped up. Hunk gave her a thumbs up, flow was coming in.

Lance sat on the edge of the console, hovering in Danea's and Pidge's peripheral vision. “I have to know, why do your crystals glow like that?” he asked, legitimately intrigued.

“Oh my god, you can't just ask her why her crystals glow!” Hunk blushed, embarrassed.

Pulling off her helmet, Pidge pulled her glasses out from her armor, adjusting them comfortably on her nose and ears. “I was actually wondering the same thing.”

The glow softened and barely lit her face anymore, casting shadows. She searched her mind for a way to explain. “The crystals are created from a vein of crystalline lined nerves near the skin surface. They act as extra processing and memory storage. Bio-luminescence indicates accessing processing power or data retrieval.”

Lance blinked a few times in rapid succession. “You're a computer?”

“Aren't you?” She asked, genuinely.

Pidge entered a new command, increasing air flow and monitored oxygen production which steadily climbed. They could feel air flow from the vents, freeing the air of it's staleness. “Lance is far from being a computer.” She closed her laptop, “But she has a point. Reasoning trees for AI's are easy to put together, a condition and options based on the condition. However, even with our advances in technology, simple tasks that humans take for granted are not easily recreated by robotics. The best computers on Earth were starting to utilize what nature already made most efficient. I guess nature here found something even more efficient. I still don't know how you made a translation matrix so robust without knowing our language.”

“Are you saying we are all computers?” Lance felt a headache coming on, the kind that only came on when Pidge or Hunk talked science.

“Essentially,” Pidge shrugged. “Except you.” Pidge saw the way Danea watched as the friends joked and berated Lance. She could feel how Danea felt out of place, intruding on the friendly banter and she felt a pang of guilt. She’d felt that way many times.

“Ok, what is this? Pick on Lance in front of the cute princess day?”

Pidge countered, a bit more sourly than usual, “That's every day.”

“But today there are two!”

Pidge brought her laptop off the console and helped reassemble it properly. “I am so disappointed you didn't shoot when the airlock opened.”

“Me too,” agreed Hunk.

\----

 

Pidge turned in a circle, recognizing faint markings now that she knew what to look for on the walls. During her time working on the commands and network data she spent time studying what she could find about the ship. Schematics, technology and how it was integrated into the biological ship. She recognized the environmental control room they had just been in was very close to a major electrical junction, or nerve cluster, which amounted to the same thing.

“Guys, go meet with Shiro, I want to check the electrical system. Get the lights back on.”

“You sure?” Hunk asked, “You want help?”

“I can help.” Danea responded, her voice flat, “I can ask Vendel to meet you at the hydroponics bay to gather food for dinner.” Pidge looked to Danea, her face was blank, maybe nervous, sending a message to her mentor.

Lance just kept walking, confident and in the wrong direction. “Sounds like a plan.”

Danea pointed down the hall in the opposite direction, “Hydroponics is that way.”

“I knew that.” Lance turned on the balls of his feet, leading Hunk in the opposite direction.

Danea gave simple instructions on where the hydroponics bay was located, watching with unease as they left her with Pidge. Not that Pidge noticed her change in attitude. Glasses stowed, helmet on and laptop under her arm she charged toward her destination. Danea jogged to catch up after the boys rounded the corner away from them. Pidge wrinkled her nose at the markings, calling up a map and basic translation she had downloaded onto her gauntlet interface.

“Looking over the electrical system, which appears to be integrated with the Leviathan itself,” Pidge started explaining but stopped when Danea silently passed her.

“It is Moira's nervous system. That's the neural map.” Danea stood in front of the door Pidge had been looking for on her map.

“Yes, I guess you would know that.” Pidge showed her the map which highlighted interruptions in the electrical system. “It seem that several areas have lost conduction for whatever reason and it is interrupting at least the lighting system. I have not seen any effect on the other systems because of these interruptions, for example the doors operate normally.”Danea nodded slowly, keeping quiet. Pidge walked to the door, activating it as the other girl had shown them earlier. “I want to see if it is a physical interruption. If not, we may need to look even more closely at the, well for lack of a better word, programming errors we are receiving.”

The room beyond the door was pitch black. Danea lingered at the door, her face turning a pale green. Pidge set her laptop outside the door, in the dull light of the natural bio-luminescence that settled in some corridors.

“Do you know what I would be looking for?” The small light swung to Danea in the doorway, startling her enough to move into the room.

“Uh, there is a major nerve cluster behind this wall. We can access it here.” Pidge moved the light to the spot Danea had indicated in the dark.

Shiro's voice crackled over the comm in Pidge's helmet, “Hey, I'm going to send Keith down to meet you two. He's got a present for you. Galra comm we think. Hoping you can get some data or frequencies from it.”

“Excellent.” Pidge felt a tingle in her head. Not painful, like a headache, just a small buzz, gone a moment later. “I guess we'll all meet up at the mess hall.” Danea, though still off color, nodded when Pidge looked her way.

Danea pulled her knife out again, carefully running it along a seam Pidge would never have found in the wall. A small tug and the panel released. Pidge, being as small as she was, could squeeze into the gap and examine the cluster.

“Well, not sure if this is a problem, but I see metal debris in here.” Pidge pulled on a chunk of metal slicing into the ship's nerve. The metal barely moved but the lights overhead flickered. “Oh, perfect.” Using both hands she tried not to twist or push the metal sliver further into the nerve instead attempting to yank it straight out.

Keith found the open door, right where Hunk had told him to go. He turned the small device over in his hand, looking at it from all angles. It didn't look like much, not that they knew much about Galra technology yet, but hopefully it held some clues for their fight. The lights in the room flickered ominously, giving him enough time to see both Pidge and Princess Danea crouched on the ground, working near the wall. He waited, silently at the door, knowing how much Pidge hated to be disturbed.

“One more,” Pidge forced herself up, though she hit her shoulder on the edge of the wall, the metal fragment came free, lights roaring to life in the room and the corridor. Keith was not paying much attention until the lights blinded him. He blinked furiously, trying to reorient himself with the sudden burst.

Danea felt her insides wretch. She did everything to not vomit. Blood, bodily fluids and other body parts were everywhere on the wall they worked at. Danea, breaths coming ragged and fast, dragged Pidge from the hole, clasping both of her hands urgently. She pulled with as much might as she could on the small Paladin, whom had dug her feet into the floor wanting to investigate more.

“We should go.” Pidge thought Danea sounded out of breath but she wasn't the one that did the work.

“Wait, I think I can access the same neural map again and see how far the circuit extends.” Pidge protested, looking down at the cluster in the hole and not up, thankfully.

“You can do that in the mess hall,” they were out the door, Danea stumbling backwards while she pulled on Pidge, spinning her around and shoving her out the door. Keith's eyes had adjusted in time to see the two girls barrel towards him. He slammed himself into the wall of the corridor before they slammed into him, cursing why they would even be running so hard out of the room.

A shocking sensation rattled him, telling him to grab the computing device. That was strange, why call it that and not a computer?

Pidge had stopped protesting as hard, apparently Danea had dragged her down to the next junction before letting go of her hands, insisting that she could show Pidge the neural map remotely, without being tied physically into the system. Pidge disagreed, how would that be possible? Technology aboard did not seem to have that capability, at least from what Pidge had seen.

Keith bent to pick the laptop up, looking up into the room as he did. He fell to his knees instead, vomiting. He understood why Danea would drag someone out of that room. He couldn't bear to look inside again. Once he'd composed himself enough, he slammed his hand on the sensor for the door, grabbed the laptop and staggered after the girls.

\-----

Keith caught up to the two girls as they met with the rest of their group. Hunk's arms were already overflowing with vegetables, plans for how to cook them spouting off as he showed each off to Lance and Shiro. The hall in front of the hydroponics bay was still dark, electricity had not been restored here. Pidge stood close to the wall, ecstatic with her discovery of how to return lighting to the ship, ignorant of Danea using the wall to steady herself. Keith wanted to do the same. Pidge asked her a question he couldn't hear and her response, without speaking, was to take gentle hold of Pidge's gauntlet. He could see, even at his slightly awkward angle, wonder spread across Pidge's face as a map lit her face. The closer he got, the more he could shake off what he'd seen, he could hear their conversations.

“How are you doing that, you're not...that's...,” Pidge traced the electrical circuit they had repaired.

Vendel spoke, annoyed, “She can't make a telepathic connection with Moira but is able to use her bioelectric field to read information from computing systems.”

Keith's arm jutted out, awkwardly throwing Pidge's laptop into her arms. “You left without this.”

“Sorry about that.” Pidge accepted it happily. “The good news is we have a way to get your lights back on. Maybe other systems too.”

Vendel watched Danea carefully which did not go unnoticed by Keith and Shiro. “These interruptions could be our entire problem?”

Pidge turned the gauntlet off, “That is entirely possible, but with the incorrect responses your ship is giving, we have some other work to do before you can get moving again.”

“Even to limping?” Shiro asked. Pidge only nodded back.

“I can give you each locations and we can check for more of this metal debris in the nerve clusters, see how man of their systems we can get back.”

Keith saw the, now, familiar look of wanting to vomit cross Danea's face. Her hand limply fell from Pidge's gauntlet and she avoided looking toward Vendel.

“What about dinner?” Hunk's face fell slightly, longingly looking to the food in his arms.

Pidge pulled up the map again, which had saved onto her gauntlet, “I think there is one near the mess hall.” Hunk brightened again.

Shiro noticed Keith's interest in Danea, nodding once to Keith.

 

\---

Pidge led Keith, Lance and Danea down the central corridor of Moira. In the center of the ship there was less bio-luminescence than where they had been, making the glow from their helmets and flashlights their only source of light. Keith kept watch, at the rear of the group, on the young Mangalarian. She’d seemed reluctant to come with them on the task but equally reluctant to join Shiro and Vendel.

Lance’s flirting had yet to die down, his cheery banter and excuses to get close to Danea added to her discomfort. Pidge stopped the group at a junction, two hallways diverging.

“We can split up, looks like there are interruptions in each corridor. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell if it is a single point or multiple.” Pidge instructed.

“So...?” Lance needed more instruction.

Pidge released an exasperated sigh, “So, you need to walk the length of the nerve to make sure all interruptions are cleared.”

“I call,” But Lance was not quick enough.

Keith interrupted, “I'll go with the princess,” startling both Pidge and Lance.

“What!” Lance pushed Keith back several feet, “What are you trying to pull?” Lance took hold of Keith's chest plate, pulling him close he added lower, “Are you trying to steal her from me? Come on man,” Lance was nearly pleading with Keith. Keith smirked at the anguished face Lance made.

A small force pushed between the two boys, “She will be fine for five minutes with Keith. Come on!” Pidge rammed all her weight into Lance's back, “Shut up, it will be five minutes. The more fight you put up the longer it will be.” Lance begrudgingly walked away.

Danea, confused by the exchange, turned and started down the opposite corridor. Keith caught up, annoyance flared because of Lance but he stayed silent, watching the girl. Deftly, she found a panel in the next room, larger than the one her and Pidge had worked in before, and plied it open. They walked through into a small corridor that looked like one of the holoprojections from biology class. Tendrils draped lazily along the ceiling, cords of nerves twisted along the floor with large clusters at seemingly irregular intervals.

Keith stepped over the nerve, trying to be careful until a softball sized drop of some bodily fluid dripped onto his helmet. Danea moved easily around the nerve, clusters and any of the strange smelling goo falling. She ducked under some tendrils, stopping only when she found a large cluster with shards of an opaque, hard substance embedded in the cluster. They knelt down together, his light shining directly on the cluster then above their heads.

“It's part of the skeleton.” Broken fragments of bone dangled above them ominously, a hole near the ceiling, ragged from the discharge of energy weapons. She huffed out her breath, setting to work pulling fragments out while Keith studied her and the enormous shards. He took off his helmet, setting it aside, comms abandoned.

Keith's voice shook, “The shard you and Pidge found before was metal.” Danea yanked another shard free with no response to Keith. “Bone makes sense. The metal,” the words lingered between them. Carefully she set the fragment aside, hands shaking uncontrollably now. “Whatever you are hiding from us,” she backed herself into the wall, fat, fearful tears falling and taking Keith aback.

“There were 78 people on Moira.” Her words shook and in turn shook Keith. He felt his chest get heavy. “Tw...twelve jettisoned into space when the Galra attacked again before leaving.” Keith's mind flashed back to the room full of bodies. “I...I had to move...my...well...almost everyone I knew.” Keith stepped towards her, trying to undo what he'd started. He had not realized what he'd stepped into and she couldn't stop, “That room had ten, no, thirteen, no...I don't know. I couldn't look anymore.” Keith reached his hands out, unsure what to really do to comfort her. She jerked away, falling a few feet from him and throwing up repeatedly.

Keith felt his head flood, a tone took over his hearing.

“Five minutes? We leave you two for five minutes and you make her sick?” Lance shouted. Keith took a knee, composing himself.

Before Keith asked, Pidge moved around him, “You weren't answering your comm, we found bone in the clusters. What did you say to her?”

Lance smacked Keith on the back of the head, “You're an idiot,” and he followed after Danea.

Pidge squatted at the nerve cluster, counting how many small fragments were still embedded. “Despite your belief I am not oblivious to people's emotions.”   
Keith sat next to Pidge, berating himself but also confused. “I never said that.”

“You didn't have to.” Pidge marveled as the light shone in through the opening Danea made twenty yards down the corridor. She continued working and talking, trying to ease Keith's tension, “Look, I know not to bring up most subjects with Princess Danea. She just lost everyone in her life to the Galra attack a few days ago. Now we come to help and she is watching us interact. We're all friends but she's not a part of that. She just lost everyone and no matter how friendly we are it doesn't change the huge loss she just suffered.” Another bone, smaller, about the size of Pidge's hand, fell from above and bounced off her helmet. “Galra really did a number on this ship.”

“You're right.” Keith moved his eyes up with Pidge's.

“Of course I am.”

Keith finally helped remove the last pieces, “Vendel has been acting weird, even for someone who has lost just as much. I'm worried we walked into another trap. I had to know.”

“Well, now you know.” Pidge stood up, motioning for Keith to follow, “So, drop it with her. I don't think she will hurt us. I mean, come on,” Pidge scoffed, “smart girl like her? She's ignored every one of Lance's advances.”

Keith let a small smile creep up, “I guess you're right. She is smart. You should probably keep talking science with her. She seems to like that.”

 

\---

Lance kicked himself as he walked. Now, thinking back, it was pretty callous to hit on a girl when she had gone through something so terrible. To be honest, he wasn't thinking. He saw a pretty girl and just did what he normally does. It made him feel better now that she'd ignored all his flirting. Thinking more, did the Mangalarians even flirt? There had been something about carrying genetic specimens on board, maybe the did some weird cloning thing?

The lights blinded him momentarily when they came on. He hoped Pidge was giving it her all on Keith. Dumb guy deserved it. Figures he could make a girl cry in five minutes. Danea sat near the junction they had split off from earlier. She hugged her knees close and her head softly bumped repeatedly into the wall behind her.

Lance wasn't sure what to say now that he was alone with her. He guessed that no matter what he said it wouldn't be worse than whatever Keith had said. “Want to hear a joke?” Oh, lord it was lame. But it made her look at him, really, for the first time.

“Sure.”

He searched his mind for a good one and now, on the spot, nothing came. “Knock knock.” Her head landed softly against the wall again. “You're supposed to say 'who's there'.” He couldn't read what her expression meant. It was blank, as if not recognizing he was telling her what to do. He pulled the helmet off and scratched at his hair, his mind buzzing a bit as he thought. “Never mind.”

“It is not a very good joke.” she pushed a smile to the surface, only for a moment.

Lance's heart did a flip. Not that he was going to start flirting again, she at least acknowledged him though. “They never are.” He turned the helmet over, examining it for no reason, “Keith is an idiot.” He didn't expect her to respond and she didn't. “Whatever he said you should ignore. He has the tact of an...actually he has zero tact.”

Her breathing was still shaky, ragged. He could hear how she'd been sobbing in the couple puffs she let out. “Don't tell Vendel about it. Please.”

“Nah, why would I?” Lance handed her the helmet to look at. She flipped it over, the built in comms and display catching her attention. “One time...one time I apparently saved his butt and all he whines about is that I don't remember us bonding.” A soft blue eminated from her neck, bouncing off the white of his helmet.

“I didn't have many friends, like you.”

“I guess I didn't either.”

“You have Pidge, Hunk, Keith, Shiro, Princess...”

“I mean before. I have them kind of by chance.” Lance could see her expression sadden even while she smiled.

“Vendel kept me from playing with the other's from our incubation group.” Lance didn't stop her when she started testing various plates inside the helmet, or even when she pulled one off and worked at the wires. He would accept Pidge's wrath if she broke it, not that he thought she would. “I didn't have many friends. Couple I did have died in accidents. Everyone else, they all stayed away when they found out I was a telepath. I would sneak away from where I was supposed to be studying sometimes but even if I wanted to play games with them they wouldn't let me.”

“Oh.” Lance had not expected this.

“I spend a lot of time with Pilot. Hide down there, and read. When I wasn't training.”

“I thought you worked with plants.”

Her fingers and a tool he had not even seen her take out of her pocket, worked fast and she pushed the plate back on the interior of the helmet, “I have to a learn a lot. I have to be able to take care of the ship and they hoped I would be able to reclaim my right as a High House princess. I have to learn about being a telepath on my own. There haven't been any in thousands of years.” The helmet fell into Lance's lap. “You're a sharp shooter. I improved the targeting scanner. Range should be increased at least 15%.”

He blinked furiously at her. He had no idea what to say. It was eerie that she knew he was a sharp shooter, he'd had no reason to pull out his bayard. But he felt guilty thinking it was eerie. The kids that wouldn't play with her probably thought she was creepy too.

“Don't feel bad, most people get disconcerted around me. I'm used to it.” She returned to banging her head on the wall, “Sorry about that. I should not have pried. You are just thinking loudly.” He couldn't help it, he fell over with laughter. He'd never been accused of that before.

 

 


	4. Trap

Shiro kept pace with Vendel. They ducked, twisted and maneuvered around the various organic compounds as they looked for the clusters Pidge had described. The way Vendel walked, he wanted no part of being with Shiro any longer. He didn't speak and the tension grew with each glance Shiro caught of him. Vendel called up a map on a small tablet at a junction, the neural map dark if they followed the path to the left. Shiro kindly offered for Vendel to go ahead of him with an extended hand.

Shiro figured, if he was going to get anything from Vendel he would have to take some initiative. “Why not just abandon the ship?”

He tensed at the question, though most might in this situation. “We need to bury our dead, perform rights, give them closure.” Vendel's voice raised with each sentence, his face burning, rage filled. He wheeled on Shiro whom only greeted him with warmth.

“Are you not worried about the traumatizing effect this will have on your princess? Or you for that matter?” Shiro kept his voice as level as possible.

Vendel did not shrink under Shiro's stare. He took a moment to compose himself, “If she is to lead she will need to learn to be resilient. If she cannot handle,” Vendel sighed, contemplative. For show or real, Shiro couldn't say.

“This trip has been difficult for the Paladins.” he tried to be casual as he interrupted the older man. Light bounced off of dust particles floating between the two men.

Vendel's glare was fueled by Shiro's words. “Then leave.” Vendel started moving again. “We don't need anymore assistance, you can go on your way and we can repair the ship enough to get to our home system.”

Hairs on the back of Shiro's neck raised. “We will do what we promised.”

\--

 

Lance threw his arm in the air, waving frantically to Shiro, Allura and Coran. Keith dodged the the waves, barely. His typical gloomy expression had become even more so. Allura sent a small wave back, noting the glum mood.

“How many systems are restored?” Shiro referred to Pidge though Vendel took it upon himself to answer.

“Appears most systems are at least partially restored. Medical bay is at 50% power, science labs are at the same. That will be a problem.” Vendel approved of the readings his tablet spit out.

Pidge, annoyed at being spoken over, answered back, “Well, the bigger systems are working. Environmental is up,” Coran tsked her.

“There must be a problem somewhere still. Castle of the Lions environmental systems are overloaded. Scrubbers are particularly overworked.”

Pidge groaned, “Could still be the programming errors we are being thrown.”

“Will it hurt the ship?” Shiro’s concern worried the other Paladins. The question no one had asked yet was how the ship would fare through all the had discovered so far. Shiro had seen more and more of the damage first hand that the Galra had inflicted on the ship, a living being.

“No, Moira requires far less oxygen and only assists in production for the crew.” Vendel considered several possibilities. “If the system is working at all we can cordon off most of the ship and force the fresh air to vital areas. Then you may be in your way.” Vendel shot a glare at Shiro again.

Pidge tutted the older man, adjusting her glasses in a knowing way, “Your power and programming errors may negate that. You tell the ship to increase airflow to your bridge and it may fill the room with carbon dioxide.” She pulled up the neural map, “As we speak it appears your ship is still experiencing power failures intermittently. Propulsion seems to be down still. You need to get to a sun to increase power output and allow her to start healing, correct?”

“We can deal with the failures, we have our suits. The power reserves should be enough to get us to the next star.” Shiro smirked, he could see Vendel grasp at straws. This man was hiding something important. Shiro was sure.

Hair fell from her messy bun, “All the suits were destroyed in the attack.” Danea tucked purple locks behind her ear.

Genuine surprise filled Vendel, “Really?” and a sudden flash of annoyance flitted across his face.

“All we have are the recycle units for our emergency helmets and armor. That gives us each about,” the pause lit with her crystals flashing, “an hour at most. And before you ask,” raising her brow to Shiro, “all security footage went dark during and after the attack. We still need to check the central nexus on Moira.”

Allura needed to add some warmth as the tension was only increasing. “We can happily tow you to the next star.”

“We can manage.”

Pidge frowned, deeper after noticing another blue glow. Danea could feel the watchful eye and tucked more hair, nervously, behind her ear. Repeating the process a few times before saying, “Probability that we survive another quintet without assistance is below 10%.”

“Those are terrible odds.” Lance leaned against the wall, batting at Keith's hair to annoy him. Keith returned a few swats.

Vendel's eyes bore into Danea, he blocked out the watchful eyes of the group. “How long until we would arrive at the next star?” His question directed to anyone who might know.

Coran had been working on possible solutions to aiding the ship. He'd related his concerns to Allura about the state of the bulkheads and the breach Keith and Shiro had inspected. “Towing won't be a problem but your ship is in no condition to survive a wormhole jump. I estimated twenty vargas.”

Hunk had waited patiently at the door of the mess hall, excited for the array of food he had set out. “Sounds like there is plenty of time to enjoy our dinner!”

Behind him, diced vegetables sat on platters, the sliced raw meat Vendel had provided was in a cooling compartment, he had even found something that resembled flour and yeast and made pita-like bread on the hot plates embedded in the table.

Most of their party happily took the break, if not to get away from the tension Vendel kept creating.

Grunting, Vendel grumbled, “I am going to check on my laboratory.”

Lance heard Danea return the grumble after he stormed down the corridor, “No equipment failure yet. Enough power to keep all online experiments viable.”

Lance tugged on Danea's bun as he passed her, Keith close enough to hear, “You should take it down, it's a mess.” His last tug hard enough to cause her hair to fall completely. Purple locks bounced down her back.

Lance liked the way she scattered to fix her hair, smooth the strays, giving up quickly to start wrapping it in a bun again. Her slightly frantic eyes darted between Hunk and Pidge while she tamed her hair. It took a few moments of scrambling with her hair to realize whatever she'd used to hold the bun in place fell and she gave up, letting it fall again. Lance hadn't paid attention to his seat selection until Keith sat next to him.

Lance's face twisted in annoyance, “I still can't believe you made her cry.”

“Oh my god, get over it.” Keith bit hard. He hated being reminded of his screw up.

Lance could hear Pidge and Danea talking, Pidge becoming more animated.

“Ok, but how?” Pidge started invading Danea's personal space.

“Bio-electricity. Physiologically you have electricity coursing through your body, sending impulses from your brain to every part of your body.” Danea tossed some of the vegetables onto a hot plate. “Mangalarian physiology allows for additional electrical signals to enter and be processed. Some can create signals as well.”

Hunk's hot plate sizzled with meat and some root vegetables, he assumed were root vegetables. He had no idea, but they smelled delicious, “Ok, wait, nerve signals are encoded differently than...say...a computer signal.”

Danea tipped her head one way, then the other, “Not that different. Language, that is the difference. Your,” her pause stuttered the sentence, looking for the correct word, “computer speaks in binary. Simple on and offs.”

“You are a walking computer.” Hunk chuckled, stirring his food around.

Allura, unbeknownst to Lance, had sat next to him, giggling lightly. Coran and her had been talking softly. Shiro positioned himself on the opposite side of the table, happier than Lance had seen him in some time about food. To Allura and Coran he said, “Something I recognize,” pointing at the hot plate and meat sizzling. Allura couldn't hide a bit of revulsion when she realized what was being offered.

Hand flying to cover a smirk, Danea said, “From histories I read, Alteans had moved beyond use of animal products in food.” Tossing more varying colored vegetables on her plate, “I personally don't care for the synthesized proteins either.”

“It looks lovely,” Allura pulled the greenest plate of vegetables she could to her.

Pidge continued prying, “How do you process and store so much more information than...well us?” Mouth full, Hunk agreed. Maybe. It was hard to tell.

“The nerves in my body are crystalline wrapped, those are the crystals the process the information and store it.”

“I thought the ones, there on your neck...” Hunk prodded a crystal, gently, with the knife.

A blue hue darkened her cheeks, “There are extensions, yes. But all my nerves are covered in a light coating of the crystals.”

Coran nudged Allura, garnering Lance's attention too. Allura nodded, whispering, “It is very sweet, isn't it?”

Coran's coy laugh peaked Lance's interest more, “Quite.”

“She's a lot like Marsa, isn't she?” Allura leaned in to check her vegetables, completely unsure if they were cooked or not.

“Who's Marsa?” Lance pulled a burning vegetable off her hot plate.

Allura tasted it, satisfied that it wouldn't kill her and to at least show she tried the food. She would likely eat again once back on the Castle. “A friend from my childhood, she was Mangalarian, also of Elefor. They look quite similar. Could be closely related genes.”

Coran remembered the girl they spoke of fondly, “Oh ho, yes. That is entirely possible.”

Lance stuffed a piece of meat in his mouth, speaking around chewing, “What is so sweet?” Allura nodded her head at Danea, the blue hue in her cheeks brightening to a purple hue. “Is she ok? She looks a little sick?”

Allura rolled her eyes and tried another orange bit, “She's blushing.” Looking over, it seemed more obvious. She'd had a slight glow around her neck most of the afternoon and evening, but from embarrassment at his teasing and new people in close proximity her glow radiated up to her face. The crystal lined veins she had been talking about glowing in her cheeks.

Coran cut a piece of a white root, raw, “She's a bit young.” which startled Lance.

“Young, what?” Lance dumped food on to his hot plate watching the animated science discussion that he wouldn't understand with new interest. “Is that princess flirting? With Pidge? Does she not know Pidge is a girl?” His voice raised in pitch excessively and now loud enough for Keith to hear.

“You didn't know.” Keith pulled a few strips of meat onto a plate.

“She literally hid it from everyone! Her file said she was a guy!” Lance scoffed at Keith, realized his food was starting to burn and flipped it.

“Doesn't matter in Mangalarian society.” she sighed contentedly, as if watching a pair of love birds. Lance watched too, now with a new intent forming. “Mangalarians have used genetic engineering as their main source for reproduction for thousands of decaphoebs before I was born. So,” Allura nodded again at Danea.

Lance could see her blush increase and the way she fussed over her hair every time Pidge asked a question.

“The crystal nerve fibers start at the base of the brain and extend out. But the densest fibers, near the surface, wrap down the neck and to the torso.” Danea abandoned eating for the conversation.

“Where the crystals grow?” Pidge looked at the crystals in a new light.

“You can't ask that! Can you? Is that ok?” Hunk fretted, again, much to Pidge's annoyance. “We don't want to tick her off, she's royalty.”

“It is. And yes.” She flexed her hand cautiously, offering it to Pidge. “I can release bio-electricity with contact to skin that has an abundance of nerves.” Breath hitching slightly, Danea's fingers touched the the black of Pidge's gloved hand. Tingling, as if touching a plasma globe, coursed through Pidge's hand.

“That's incredible!” Pidge exclaimed, startling the table.

Hunk swallowed but suddenly choked on his food, “You can touch any computing system with your hand and take control?”

“Not so much control, but talk to it?”

Vendel's entrance darkened the room again, “Your control has been compromised, let go before you hurt the Paladin,” he snapped.

Danea jerked back her hand, “Yes.”

Dropping food on to the hot plate and his sights set on his charge, “Where are your senses? We know nothing about their physiology.”

Shiro softened, “I am sure it is fine. They have just been talking.” He didn't notice Coran trying to cut off his kind attempt to intervene.

Vendel quickly cooked enough food to fill a bowl, “She is proprietary technology.” Coran mouthed the words along with the older man. “The less people know about her, the better.”

Keith's chair flew back, “You say that like she should be hidden.”

The room descended into two warring factions. Shiro and Keith's mistrust of Vendel turned to rage at the comments however Coran and Allura started to quell their rage.

Coran and Allura grabbed at Shiro, “Leave them. It is how Mangalarians are.” Coran's words commanding enough to pause Shiro.

Keith wasn't quieted so easily, “Really? Keep her locked away on a ship?” Lance jumped from his chair as Keith started vaulting over the table. Lance's arms were around his arms, dragging him back.

“We have done everything to hide her. Hide her from anyone that would use her. The Galra, would you want her to be used by the Galra?” The words reverberated with a fist slamming on the table. “She is not your concern.” Shiro's barely made out a single mumbled word in the deafening silence, “Gomel.”

Pidge and Hunk shrank into their seats, not as much as Danea. Everyone's food abandoned, Allura put on her diplomatic face, “You know, we really should discuss how we are going to transport your vessel to the next star system. Coran mentioned concerns about keeping Moira connected at the airlock.” Shiro agreed, silently, regaining his composure.

Danea picked plates and utensils up, avoiding all eye contact. “We're going to check the Central Nexus.”

“Excellent, they will be busy. We have much to discuss.” Allura ushered Vendel to the door.

Lance felt safe letting Keith go after Vendel left the room. Keith shook off the last bits of rage, throwing the chair back into the table.

Shiro pulled Coran aside before they followed Allura. The other Paladins were busy, calming down or cleaning, “What does gomel mean?”

Mustache twitching, “I think it is Mangalarian for monster, but I'm a bit rusty in Mangalarian.” Shiro grimaced and followed Allura.

\--

“You can get out of my face now.” Lance still pinned Keith to the wall. Keith shoved him off.

“Are you sure? You defended her? Who are you and what have you done with Keith?” Lance caught himself on a chair.

“His bio signature hasn’t changed, he is the same person...oh.” Before it filled the room, Danea heard Keith’s laughter, loud, boisterous, especially for him, fill her mind. He could feel her watching him as he burst out laughing. Hunk, Lance and Pidge all joined.

Lance wiped away a tear, “You really need to hear more jokes.”

Danea scraped the uneaten food into a compost bin, kicking herself for saying something foolish. Hunk helped with the clean up, “That's crazy. I mean, what else is there to do on this ship? She has to know tons of jokes!” Lance tried to kill Hunk's rambling, “I bet they, oh.”She was throwing plates into an opening. “No one would keep someone on a ship their entire life. I am sure...what?”

Lance and Keith's guts wrenched. Keith lost all words and needed Lance's guidance. “Over protective much?” was all Lance could muster.

Danea could feel their intentions, kind, compassionate thoughts. Much kinder than the emotions she was used to sensing. “It wasn't all bad. I had Pilot to talk with, books to read.” She hoped they didn't see her wipe any of the tears that fell onto the counter.

Pidge had checked her computer, eyes narrowing knowingly, “You have been off the ship before.”

Shiro and Vendel were walking down the corridor heading straight for the airlock and Altean ship. Turning, hoping her cheeks were dry enough, she held two fingers up. Lance brightened, “Ooooooh, she's...”

“Don't finish that!” Pidge ordered. Adding a punch for good measure. “Any planets?”

“No. Two space station trading depots. But still,” her voice trailed off as she moved to the door. Kind eyes watching her, boring into her, feeling sorry for her. Still better than the alternative.

Lance assumed the dreamy state, “Ah, Rapunzel.”

Hunk followed with his friends, the corridor lights flickering. “Wait, wait, wait. You haven't stepped foot on a planet? Grass. Trees. Rain. Snow. Rocks.” Hunk, oblivious to his friends trying to stop him, “That is so sad.” Lance had the good sense to turn and hit Hunk in the arm. “What? It is sad.”

Pidge caught up, “Tact, Hunk.” Pidge jogged to Danea at the front.

Questions rang loudly in Danea's head. Before she could ask, “There was an incident when I was a child. Vendel said a man from a transport that was delivering new incubation chambers died.”

“Because of you?” Keith asked.

Lance slapped himself, he was surrounded by tactless idiots. “Keith!”

“What?”

“He implied it” She walked faster.

Lance knew what was coming next and tried to stop it but Keith ducked out his way, “Did he?”

“Oh my god!” Lance jumped at Keith anyway.

Danea shrugged, “He didn't die from anything I did, based on the scans I took.” Pidge pulled up a map, watching where they were heading. “But medicine is not my forte.” She pointed to the corridor they would take next.

Hunk made a few circles trying to figure out where they were. “I'm lost.”

Pidge consulted the map again, “We are heading to the central nexus, I assume.”

Turning a corner pylons and the remnants of a wall blocked their path. Lights flickered again, worrying Danea.

“We are going to see Pilot.” Pidge had been searching the map for a way around but Danea just started climbing over.

Hunk felt completely confused, “Who?” Portions of the caved in wall slipped down as Hunk made his way over.

Keith couldn’t help being sarcastic, he was tired of being around so many people, “My guess would be the pilot of the ship.”

Lance crawled up the debris, “I’m with Hunk on this. I thought only Vendel and the princess made it out of the Galra attack.”

Pidge made her way down the opposite side of the pile, hopping onto the stable floor again. Hunk tried to follow her lead but under all their weight and movement the remnants settled. The wall piece slid on the round supports under it taking Hunk's feet out from under him. “Ow. And now I am kind of creeped out.”

Pidge and Lance helped their friend up, “By...?”

“Who is piloting this ship?” Pidge hoped Hunk's anxiety would ease soon.

Scoffing under her breath, “You mean the ship that is not moving?”

“You will understand shortly.”

Another door stood in their way, not moving when Lance tried the door sensor. Pidge tried next, Lance taunting, “You're too short to activate it,” receiving a punch to his gut as response.

“Could be another malfunction?” Pidge pried the sensor off with Danea joining her in removing cords from the wall and starting to splice things together. “What is that look?” Danea handed a cord over to Pidge.

“What is that?” Lance jingled a cord between the girls.

“Better not to ask, I think.” Hunk kept as far from them and the inner workings as he could. From his new angle he could see Danea's face, “I know that look! That's the look Pidge gives Lance when she's waiting for him to understand something!”

Pidge handed a cord back to Danea, “Yeah, well sometimes it takes...hey! You're waiting for me?” Pidge could see it now, patiently waiting. Well, definitely more patience than her.

Another tug. She kept working quickly, “Your minds are...loud. Louder than I am used to hearing.” Pidge couldn't see what Danea did but the door opened and they all moved forward. “I was being courteous.”

Pidge ran to cut off her escape in the next room, “No no no no no! So, you can actually...?”

“Yes.”

“Prove it.” Pidge searched her mind, thinking hard _'Can you hear this?'_

“Yes.”

_'You have to be lying.'_

“No.”

_'Prove it. What's my real first name.'_

“Katie.”

Lance, Keith and Hunk huddled together watching Pidge explore. _'Can you communicate...I mean.'_

_'Yes,'_ Danea's voice floated around inside Pidge's head.

The high pitched squeal that emanated from Pidge, “That is so cool!”

Eyes wide, Hunk hid behind Keith, “Is that creepy or cool?”

Keith was quick, “Creepy.”

At the same time Lance said, “Cool.”

“What?” Lance turned on Keith. Keith didn't bother looking over. “She can hear what we're thinking.” Lance took another moment to ponder her and her very beautiful curves. “Right. That could be bad.” Danea's expression turned sour with Lance's loud and clear thoughts.

Keith felt uneasy, not from the conversation, but something in the corridor felt off. An empty path lay in front of them, littered only by the remains of another hole blasted in the wall near the ceiling.

Pondering out loud, “Why did the Galra shoot near the ceiling so much?” Pidge and Danea stopped walking and peered up where Keith pointed.

Pidge opened a scanning program on her display. Hunk read the output over her shoulder while Keith and Lance searched through the scraps on the floor. “I'm getting interference, I think.”

“Moira's skeleton runs along many of these corridors, as we saw when we were cleaning out the nerve clusters.” Danea felt an unease grow in her stomach, either from Keith or her own emotions. She was starting to feel overwhelmed with all the people and thoughts floating around. It was harder to separate who was who, whose thoughts went where and separating her own.

Neither boy found anything worthwhile in the wall scraps, instead turning to the hole itself. “Could they have known someone was hiding?” Keith blurted out.

Her mind went blank trying to think of what happened during the attack. She remembered Vendel shoving her into an alcove in the science bay, ordering her to hide, get deeper into the bowels of the ship. She crawled for a long time and heard the fighting in the corridors, blaster shots had been close enough to the tunnel she was in that she pushed further into the ship. She remembered that explosions must have gone off causing the ship to tumble about in pain. She remembered searing pain and shouting and darkness. The cloying and gasping for breath as if she were in a vacuum. The silence that screamed in her ears.

Absently she walked between Keith and Lance, her eyes locked on the hole. The clicks were barely audible and it may well have been instinct that drove Keith to sprint back. Grabbing at Lance's arm and Danea's torso, the explosion, deafening them, tore through the wall and flung them in the air. Pidge and Hunk were fortunate to be further away from the blast. The shock wave still catapulted them back. Adding insult to their injuries, Moira rocked, pulling away from the airlock with the Castle of Lions, piling the Paladins in a heap.

The armor they wore had protected them from much of the explosion. Lance pulled himself from the pile, all his senses overloaded. His vision was still blurry and a tone was the only thing he could hear. Each of his friends felt the same clamoring to stand. Keith tapped Danea’s shoulder. She was limp, not responding and blood flowed from a gash in the back of her head, staining her purple hair a dark maroon.

The tone ringing in their ears started dying away allowing for Shiro’s voice to break through, “What is happening over there? Come in!”

Lance rolled onto his back, “Galra bomb.”

Pidge let loose a string of swears before answering, “They booby trapped the corridor to the central nexus.”

Hunk helped turn Danea, “They knew if anyone was left they would have to come this way.”

“Did the airlock hold?” Pidge crawled over to the princess, medical scanner up on her display.

Allura joined the conference, “Yes, barely. I was lucky to be at the ship controls.”

“Everyone ok?” Pidge was sure she could hear his mustache twitch over the comm.

“Yea,” she lied, switching off the comm. The back of Danea’s head was soaked in blood and the front was not much better. A single tear near the hairline caused blood to rush out. Her face was smeared red and she was still unconscious.

“Why did you lie? She is not ok.” Hunk searched for something to ease the blood flow.

Pidge turned off the scanner, maneuvering around to her head, “She’s unconscious but it doesn’t look like there is a concussion. It’s just the blood flow we need to stop.” An unusual hesitation for her, “I think.”

“If Pidge doesn’t know shouldn’t we get Coran and Allura down here?” Hunk’s worry overtaking again. Not in his frantic panicking way but concern. Concern which faded when the princess groaned. Her eyes fluttered.

Relief washed over Pidge, “See.” But she wasn’t prepared for the wave that passed over her next. She swore she could hear the heavy footfalls of Galra soldiers and sentries. Blaster fire, loud, close to her, pelting the wall repeatedly, a hole bursting. Pidge fell back into the wall again, panic taking over. A second later it was gone.

Danea opened her eyes. Three bright helmets floated around above her, occasionally becoming six, then three again. “What happened?” She wiped at her brow, expecting sweat, not blood. “Oh, oh I need to stop,” Pidge chucked the helmet from her head, still regaining her bearings. Scrambling around the guys, she fished inside Danea’s boot and pulled a piece of cloth.

“How…?” Lance looked between the two.

“Oh, she's inside your head, isn't she?” Hunk said, surprisingly calmer than he had been since entering this ship.

Lance gripped Danea's arm, holding her steady as she sat up. “Over stimulated. I'm sorry. I'm not used to this. I'm sorry.” Several breaths helped to steady her. The cloth became soaked in blood quickly. Pidge felt a resolve she hadn't before, the feeling intense but dying down.

“Are you ok?” Hunk asked Pidge.

“Yes,” Pidge didn't want to tell everyone about what she'd felt. It felt private, Danea's thoughts weren't meant to be shared like that and it seemed to be an accident even if she could hear all their thoughts. “You didn't mention you had internal communications that were down too.”

Danea stood, stymieing the blood flow as best she could with one hand, the other grazing the wall. “I felt that breathing was more important.”

“Where are you going?” Lance called out.

“To see Pilot.”

 

 


	5. Breaking points

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Mention of blood several times (no gore)

For all his pomp, yelling and generally disagreeable nature, Shiro could feel how worried Vendel was for Danea after the explosion. He'd settled down considerably when they finally heard back from the Paladins. Either way, exhaustion was starting to take hold.

Shiro hovered at Coran's shoulder while Allura returned to discussing the route to the nearest star. Bio monitors from the Paladin armor was displayed on a discreet screen.

“Are they really ok?” Shiro whispered.

“Yes. Number 5 is the only one that is showing strange readings.” Coran enlarged the readings. Shiro shrugged. “Neuro chemical I think. Heart rate was elevated too, but it's returned to normal.”

“Not normal for being shook around by a bomb.” Shiro sighed. “Should I go in?”

A few ticks passed, the graphs returning to normal levels. “She's fine. Just the excitement I'd wager.”

Shiro hated admitting it, “Maybe Vendel was right. She doesn't have control. Could she hurt one of us?”

Coran changed the displays back to cartography and the course he'd plotted. “Could she? Yes. I don't think she would.”

Shiro's stony facade cracked a little, “I don't think she would either.”

\--

 

“Should she really be walking?” Hunk watched the trail of blood extend in front of him. “And what is she doing?”

Fingertips grazing the wall, Danea shuffled to the door, “I can hear you.” Drops of blood fell from her chin no matter how many times she wiped it away so she stopped. “Don’t you want to know if there are any more bombs?”

“Yes, yes we do, Hunk.” Lance answered, gritting his teeth and slapping Hunk.

“Ow, yes that would be good.”

The door activated to a relatively small room with a console. Not a traditional bridge of a ship that any of the Paladins expected. The pilot was what caught them off guard. Towering over everyone, at least six and a half feet tall, the pilot looked like a cephalopod similar to the ship itself. With a frill on its head extending back and tentacle like arms, four that they could see, entering commands on the console, it was by far the most alien looking alien they had seen yet. His mouth, similar to a beak on a squid, moved with exasperated noises. To Lance, it reminded him of the aliens in Independence Day.

“Pilot!” Danea caught herself on the edge of the console, Pilot barely lifting his eyes from the readouts.

“I am pleased you survived.” He replied, obviously agitated and working. “Did any other crew members?”

“Vendel,” Pilot made a distinctively distasteful noise.

“You require medical attention.” Pilot commented. Ignoring him Danea fished around near the base of the console, tools, tubes of unknown substances and books were strewn about. Plucking a tube from the floor she forced a clear gel onto her finger and scraped it along the laceration. It was a relief to see the blood stopped flowing. “Pilot, these are the Paladins of Voltron.”

Pidge smirked at the Pilot, absorbed in his work, ignoring even the young Mangalarian. Hunk leaned in to Pidge, “He's so big. How does it get around?”

Lance, less polite than his friends, pitched himself onto the console, “Where are his feet?” Pilot knocked Lance back. Pidge read translations of the screen output on her display quietly.

“Pilot's nervous system is bonded to the Leviathan's.” Danea jumped onto the console edge, applying more of the clear gel to the back of her head to stifle the bleeding. “He assists in communicating with the Leviathan and caring for it's well being.”

“And since the Galra attack I have been doing nothing but filter Moira's requests.” Pilot's four arms raced around the consoles. “Have you pinpointed what is causing this?”

Pidge and Hunk exchanged worried glances. “Not yet, we were hoping you might have had a clue.”

Lance kicked around some of the scraps of paper on the floor, books, and a bag with several more bottles like the one Danea was holding. A ratty, well worn leather bound book caught his eye. Well loved, for sure, he flipped it open. Elaborate sketches of people covered the pages. Her old crew mates. Pilot. Many of Pilot.

Danea's boots landed hard next to the book. She snatched it, stowing it in her belt, folded over and adding more creases.

“It reminds me a little of something.” Hunk interrupted everyone's thoughts. “My great grandma had pretty advanced Alzheimer's. She always got things confused. Like if you asked for a loaf of bread she'd make a sandwich. And one time she tried to fix a clock that needed new batteries but used peanut butter.”

Snapping her fingers Pidge added, “We asked to open the panel and it closed the door.”

Pilot muttered to himself before adding, “Moira has been panicking since the Galra attack. She can't move and at first was trying hundreds of things at once to move. None of those commands made sense.”

“What kind of commands did she make?” Pidge asked.

Pilot kept up the frantic pace as more commands came in, “She vented the oxygen while opening bay doors, flooding some rooms with flourine and cutting power to the bridge.”

Fatigue was showing in Pilot, his eyes drooped between volleys of commands. “We need access to the central nexus, Pilot. You can't keep this pace up much longer.” His eyes darted to the door. “Quiznak.”

“What is that?” Keith led them to the door. A dark maroon bulge filled the seam of the door. A sticky liquid dripped down onto the floor, oozing at several joints.

Faces contorted at the smell of burnt flesh lingering at the door, “They burned the door closed.”

“That's...blood?” Lance had touched it, testing it.”Gross.”

“That's how I felt stepping in goo.” Hunk gagged, hoping his dinner would stay right where it was, “How can we get in?”

Danea stepped back, tracing the frame of the door, making some calculation. “Ah, it might work. Barely.” Instead of an explanation, she bent down searching the floor.

“What is she doing?” Hunk asked, more rhetorically than anything.

“Power conduit.” Danea kept searching. Finding something she followed a line to the wall. Ticks later she gently pried a tiny panel off the wall. Returning to the bag near Pilot, she held a small spray bottle triumphantly. Jamming it into Hunk's hands, “Spray this, a thin but even layer, over the scar tissue of the door. You have to be even with it, there is just enough for the entire seam. Wait ten doboshes. He,” she pointed at Keith, “has a blade, correct?” Immediately continuing, “Carefully cut the entire seam within two doboshes, in the middle. The door should be able to be pried open after that without causing any problems.”

“Let me guess, we are going in that space that only the two of us can fit?” Pidge peered in with her flashlight.

\--

 

Besides slipping through the hole the tunnel next to the central nexus was less cramped than she'd anticipated. Light shined on the damp walls illuminating them with a violet tinge. The floor beneath them was slick making the progress to the central nexus slower than she thought it would take. Circuitous too. They passed several junctions before Danea stopped.

Pidge expected a wide room, a large mass, something that wasn't just another tunnel. Odors overpowered them both. Bile rose in Pidge's throat. Rotting organic matter mixed with the metallic scent of blood drying in Danea's hair was too much. Her filtration system couldn't keep up.

“Are you alright?” Danea sat against the wall, only a couple feet from Pidge.

“We have to push forward. I'll be fine.” Pidge lied.

“It is penetrating your suit's filtration?” Danea sighed, moving forward again. The smell became far more recognizable as they entered the chamber for the central nexus. It was the same as the door sealed shut, feet from where Pidge emerged from the tunnel. Here it was amplified. A hulking mass of tissue embedded in the floor was clearly the brain of the Leviathan. Scorch marks left gaping holes in the tissue, burnt pieces on the floor and tears rolling down both their cheeks uncontrollably. Pidge felt the wave of emotion roll into her as Danea fell to her knees.

“Are you there yet?” The speaker in her helmet crackled with Hunk's voice. “We're about to cut into the seam, brace yourselves if I got this wrong.”

Pidge didn't respond. She felt like she might throw up if she opened her mouth. This couldn't be fixed. There was nothing they could do. Gently prodding, Danea tested the burnt tissue; Pidge scanned the room. Galra equipment lay on the far side from the door, two dead Galra soldiers contributing to the stench of the room. Little triangular lights caught her attention. Not part of the Galra soldiers suits they had fought before.

Daring to open her mouth, “What is that?” Pidge plucked the device from the soldier's armor. A small rectangle, the single light, no other buttons. She would probably need to pull it apart on the Castle of Lions to figure it out. Danea was entranced by the destruction, two holes near the Galra soldiers catching her attention. An arms length away she could see what caused the destruction.

“These are used by the Galra to aid in installing control collars on Leviathans.”

Tossing a broken piece of metal aside, “That's vile.”

“Yes, it is vile.” Danea wiped away more tears. “We can initiate a chemical coma, essentially put her and Pilot into hibernation. Tow her to a star and let her body heal. As much as it can.” Pidge felt rage spike in her as Danea smashed control mechanism of the device.

“Will it repair her central nexus?”

“Probably not enough. We might be able to coax one good jump out of her, get her home and let her be with other Leviathans. Transfer Pilot to a new host.”

Light flooded the chamber as the door slowly slid open to grunts from Keith, Lance and Hunk.

Pidge passed the small device, “Do you know what this is? I've never seen it before.” Blinding, searing, excruciating pain lanced Pidge and Danea. The pain shot straight to their brains, unlike any headache either had experienced. Any of the rage she'd felt vanished. She understood the urge to cry over the beast but did not understand why her cheeks were still damp with tears. A thud echoed as Danea landed, unconscious, next to her. Blood seeped out of the wound near her forehead again mixing with the viscera around her.

 

\--

“Coran, prep one of the pods!” Keith's own voice boomed in his ears, echoing with his breathing. He ran ahead, opening doors as fast as he could for Lance, racing to the next one praying he was not lost. They found the bay and the airlock to the Castle of Lions, pounding their way through to the medical bay.

“We'll meet you there.” Coran's replied.

They were close. The front of Lance's suit was a mess of red. Pidge and Hunk stayed behind, closing the airlock off. Lance kept pace with Keith, Danea growing more pale by the tick.

The medical bay was empty making him panic. Keith searched for the correct controls to open a pod, unsure what else he could do. Pidge knocked him out the way, selecting the correct buttons and the pod hissed open. Setting her in, Lance pulled her knife and book from her waistband worried it would interfere with the pod and how it worked. Pidge attempted to initiate the proper sequences, a red light flashing wildly at her. Frustrated, her fist slammed the panel once before entering the sequence again.

“Why won't it start? It's the correct input! AH!”

Allura gently took Pidge's shoulders, startling her into realizing how full the medical bay now was. “The pods don't work on Mangalarians.” Allura opened the pod again. Lance fell a step back, knocking into Vendel. Shiro caught Danea, holding her loosely and checking her wounds.

“What happened to her?” he ordered. Pidge held up the small Galra device. “As the Alteans would say, quiznak.” Vendel tested the single button, shutting the device down. Danea remained unconscious. Coran waded through the Paladins, a small circular device glowing in his hand.

“This could take some time.” Coran pointed to a table, indicating where Shiro should set her.

At her feet Vendel ripped apart the device, muttering to himself.

Shiro took in the other Paladins. They were shaken, dirty and very exhausted but not ready to leave. “Can you fill me in? What did you find?”Each looked at the other in turn, not quite sure where to start.

Keith eyed Vendel warily, “It looks like the Galra assumed someone was still on the ship. They sealed the central nexus. Planted that one trap at least.”

“When we got in we discovered they tore it apart. The ship is essentially brain damaged. Danea said they were using some device to install a control collar.” Pidge felt unsure, trying to remember correctly. “But they literally shot it, gouged it out.” She was shaking at the thought, at the feelings it dredged up. Feelings that were both hers and not and confusing.

Shiro pulled her attention to him, his voice steady, “Did she give any indication of what to do?”

She gulped down a few deep breaths, “Chemically induced coma.” Shiro nodded reassuringly.

Allura took in Keith, Lance and Hunk. All pale. Watching and worried about their teammate. Hunk bent to help sooth Pidge.

Vendel clicked his tongue, annoyed, “It's a neural dampener. Not as well made. Caused a feedback loop.” Coran moved the small circular disc closer to the wound on the back of Danea's head. He hid the displeasure of Vendel's comments behind checking her wound. “Could have caused brain damage. Idiots.”

Confident that Pidge was calm Shiro stood, Keith pushing in front of him, “So, they expected to find her?”

Vendel swatted the parts across the bay, “I told you, we were trying to keep her secret.”

“Clearly you didn't,” Keith fired back.

Shiro stopped himself, knowing he shouldn't make this a fight, “Enough! We have more important things to attend to, like putting your ship in a chemically induced coma, apparently. I don't know about anyone else, but I do not have the knowledge to do that,” pointedly he gestured to Vendel. Grumbling, he acquiesced, exiting the medical bay in a flurry of swears. “As for you,” he turned to his teammates, “You need some rest.” No one moved instead watching Coran work. “At least a shower? Change of clothes?”

Hunk tapped Pidge lightly, “You could stand to take a shower. You’re ripe.” Pidge only leaned back staring at Coran as he worked.

Keith broke the silence, “I need to check something.”

Lance, unsure what he could need to check, “I’m coming.”

“Whatever.”

Shiro sat with Pidge, a sign Hunk could go clean up as she was in good hands. Allura took over for Coran, giving him a needed break.

“Are you ok? We got some strange readings from your suit.”

Pidge took her time responding. “Yea. I think…I think everything over there is getting to me.”

Shiro wrapped her shoulders in his arm, “It’s a lot. A lot happened there, and you were not trained for that. I doubt she was either.” He could see the greenish hue in her cheeks, “But you don’t have to lie.”

Pidge buried her face in folded arms, “She wouldn’t want Vendel to know she was showing me her telepathy.”

She could tell Shiro knew, “I know she wouldn’t hurt you. Not on purpose.”

“She went through hell. I think...she felt everyone as they...he expects her to just forget it but I don’t know how anyone can do that.”

Allura walked around the table, attending to the other cut again, “She is expected to lead, possibly as one of very few Houses left on Mangalar. It is something she will need to get used to.”

“It’s a fine line. But I know one thing...our support helps. I am happy we could help.” Shiro squeezed her tight. “Can you help me with one thing? Which I hope will help her.” Her head bounced once. “Think you can put that dampener back together?”

“Of course I can, but why? That was what caused…,” flailing toward the table, “I don’t want to hurt her again.”

“Did she fall unconscious when you entered the room?”

Unfolding herself, “No, when I tried to hand it to her.” She was starting to perk up.

“Just don't turn it on next to her ear or anything.”

“Why do you want it back together?”

“I want to know if the Galra knew what they were doing. How different is it from the one Vendel is wearing.” Standing he got ready to leave, “I think I can get you one of the her crew members’ dampeners.”

\---

 

Keith carefully checked around the corner expecting Vendel to walk around and mess up his plan. Lance, on the other hand, casually rested against the wall patiently waiting for Keith to move.

“Where are we going?”

Keith grunted, “I am going to check out a room I found earlier. You...I don't know what you are doing.” Lance knocked on Keith's arm, a notification for a message blinking. “Shiro. He wants us to...oh. Great.”

“What? What does he want?” Lance drummed his fingers against the wall, bored.

Keith rounded the corner with his anxiety peaking and his stomach unsettled. Lance followed, shockingly quietly, through the corridors again, stopping at one of the many identical doors they passed. Nothing seemed very special about this door.

Keith's hand hovered near the sensor before activating, “Wait out here? Keep an eye out?”

“I'm coming in.” Lance replied, still bored.

“You're not going to want to.” The door swished open with the now familiar scent of decay. Keith activated his full helmet, “God, this better only take a minute.”

Lance wretched and doubled over, activating his own helmet, “Yea, I'm just going to wait out here.”

The first bulge he found he moved straight to the upper right hand side. Pulling away the cloth just enough to see some of a jacket and the small device Shiro requested. Seconds later he exited and Lance activated the switch again.

“That was the rest of the crew?” Lance took the silence as confirmation. “How did they all end up...she...” Lance tried to make sense of it all and while he did it was more haunting than talking to her had been.

Keith stormed off, his stomach back under him, “Let's go. I'm done.”

“I thought you were going to do something.” Keith found it easier to ignore him than answer.

 

\-----

“The frequencies are similar. Ok...why is this…? Did you put it together right?” Hunk’s nose touched Pidge’s screen aggravating her more and more.

“Of course I put it together right!” She snapped back.

“But look at this. It is not a smooth signal. It’s…” Hunk circles his hands around, words defying him.

“Huh. The Galra signal changed. Did it change when you turned on the Mangalarian dampener?” Mouth twisting as he thought, Hunk turned the Mangalarian dampener off again. “So….yes?” Pidge had waited impatiently, drying her hair in a towel still.

“Yes. I think it amplified the signal too.” Hunk sat back, his neck aching. “Ok, let’s assume telepathy is like picking up a radio frequency.”

Towel forgotten, Pidge continued, “The dampener could be changing the frequency so she can’t pick up the signal?” She stretched as she gathered her thoughts. “The Galra device amplified the frequency of the Mangalarian device so what if it accidentally amplified…” She fell short on the thought. Maybe it wasn’t a great idea to tell Hunk that her and Danea had still been connected telepathically.

“Amplified what?” Hunk waved his hand in her face. “Oh. What if it amplified the frequencies she can hear? Oh...oh! It could have overloaded her brain!”

Shiro waited patiently at the door, happy Pidge had taken the time to shower and change. She was getting back to normal. “Like a concussive bomb can overload hearing and vision?”

“Yes!” Pidge spun.

Shiro came all the way into the med bay again. Passing Pidge he patted her head sweetly, “Good work. Vendel is back in the castle.” Hunk frantically hit buttons hiding the devices in pockets and minimizing programs. “Has she woken up yet?”

“No.” Pidge wheeled a chair next to the make shift bed. “Allura said all we could do was wait. The wounds are healed enough.”

Unbeknownst to Pidge, Keith and Lance hovered at the door. Freshly showered, several times over to make the odors dissipate, they stood guard. A new argument traveled down the hall spearheaded by Vendel and Coran. Raised voices carried into the med bay concerning everyone.

“I appreciate the hospitality but we will stay on our own ship.” Vendel's voice grated on each of their ears.

“I must insist that the way we will be traveling will not be safe to be on your ship.” Coran silently pleaded with his new audience to back him up.

Danea felt groggy and her eyelids were heavy. The voices, however, were numerous and loud, jolting her conscious.

“My understanding is the ships will not be connected by airlock. If anything happens we will have to stop to provide any support.” Shiro stayed calm. He stepped in front of Vendel placing a proper look of concern on his face and trying to stay friendly.

“We will be just fine.” Vendel could see movement and rushed to Danea.

She felt at her head remembering the wounds only to find scar tissue bumping under her finger. Pidge helped her sit up, holding her arm steady and wildly ecstatic the girl was awake.

_Please, let me not have done permanent damage._

Over and over again. No tuning it out.

_Pretty lucky._

_Gotta keep her here._

_Marsa._

“What if she relapses? What if something happens to her?” Allura pleaded, “She is your princess, is she not?” Her tone stiffened to that of a ruler. “You must do what is best for her.”

Vendel paled, finally. He was trapped. Danea, silent, watched her teacher, grimly. She felt trapped as well, between all the voices flooding her and Vendel. Gritting her teeth, fists clenched and white knuckled she squeezed her eyes shut willing silence. “Prepare a room.”

Allura warmed, “Just one? We can prepare one each quite,” Vendel pushed through the semicircle.

“You need more rest,” it was an order, not a request. And to Shiro, not the appropriate tone to take with a future monarch. Taking her arm, Vendel guided her from the table and out of the medical bay leaving Pidge to gape at the doorway. Her hand flexed where Danea's arm had been, where she had been holding her, feeling the muscles seize as Vendel bared down on her. Even Pidge's chest felt tight.

Intently, Lance's gaze bored into Danea as she passed. _Think loud, think loud. Listen for Pidge. Please let this work._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *The next chapter is fluffy and sweet. A reprieve from the darkness.


	6. That's my kind of night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Fluff fluff and more sweetness. That is all. I am just happy with this chapter that's all. :)

“I feel stupid.” Pidge grumbled as Lance kept a look out, “And he is on the other side of the mess hall, no where near us. You looking stupid is making me feel more stupid.”

Lance coughed to hide his embarrassment, “Do you know what kind of range she has on her telepathy?” Her head shook lightly, “Didn't think so. So, we get close, you give her a route out of the room and to the lounge to hang out and we bolt.”

“So why are we hiding?” she adjusted her glasses.

“Well, we...I...shut up!” Lance waved and moved to the next junction. “They are heading to their quarters, right?”

Pidge walked normally through the hallway, “Yes. How is she getting past Vendel? He is staying with her.”

“Ok, the plan could use a little finessing.” Lance admitted. “She can figure it out. She got onto two space stations when she shouldn't have.”

Referencing the map she found they had stopped at quarters and were most likely resting. “Ok, last question, why are you doing this?” When Lance took longer than she expected to answer, “I don’t particularly feel like helping you hook up…”

“She needs friends, ok. Can we leave it at that?” Lance found the guest quarters door down the hall willing it open with his mind. Willing something to happen. Pidge zoomed the map on her laptop out focusing on vents and corridors leading to the lounge they usually used.

“What are you working on in the hallway?” Shiro could easily see the map over Pidge's shoulder.

“Shiro!” Lance snapped Pidge's laptop shut much to her chagrin. “We were just...what was it you said Pidge?”

“We were fixing...the...uh...” Pidge glared at Lance. She hated trying to come up with a lie so quickly and was surprisingly terrible at it when in a pinch.

Shiro chuckled, “It's fine, I need to go talk to our guests about something. Have a good night you two.” Shiro waved to Coran and Allura who had joined him at the junction near the guest quarters.

In retaliation for the spur of the moment attempt at a lie Pidge punched Lance again. “Don't make me cover for you again.”

“Yea, yea. Let's just hope she hears you.”

 

–

Vendel prodded her head repeatedly, both scars still pink and tender. She'd washed the blood from her hair as soon as she could to remove the metallic smell of iron that had been clinging to her.

“They did a good job of healing me,” she tried timidly.

“Admittedly, yes.” Vendel's neural dampener hovered near her temple, the light changing colors rapidly. “You are still having issues with control. These people are...”

“It's fine. I'm fine. They're not...I don't think we have anything to fear.”

Vendel rapped the dampener on her head once before placing it back on it's clip. “Is that so?” He paced the bright, boxy room a few times before handing her a box of water and pill. “They fight the Galra on the front lines. You don't think their tongues will be loose if captured or tortured?”

Glumly, she accepted both items, “I...,” and sighed. _Can you hear me?_ Clear and precise the thought rang in her. A map. Corridors she had just walked mapped out in her mind.

Vendel motioned to the bed, “Get rest. We will be leaving here as soon as possible.” The door chime elicited more grumbles of aggravation from Vendel. “What now?”

“Yes, sir.” Danea hid the sleep aid in her pocket and laid down on her bed reviewing the corridors and routes Pidge told her, excitement building.

 

 

\--

Hunk set the tray of shiny, round things on the ledge behind the couch. His newest attempt at cookies disheartened him again. He needed proper ingredients but who knows when that would happen. A ratty, worn, leather bound book sat unattended on the cushion.

“Pidge, you leave your book here?” Hunk flipped it open expecting colorful graphs and notes, not the coal and pencil sketches which filled the pages.

“No, it's in my bag, like always. Why, you going to read it again?” Pidge hopped down to the cushion, sitting cross legged with her laptop warming her lap. “Whoa.” Sketches of unknown people filled the first few pages Hunk flipped through. Several sketches of the leviathan Pilot littered the next several pages.

“She's incredible.” Hunk marveled.

Catching both their eyes a wave, unlike the sketches of people, roped along the top of a page. “That's weird. Looks like...”

“...a transmission wavelength.” Hunk finished. “Strange.”

The door swished open to Lance forcing Keith through the door. “Come on. Like an hour. Please.”

“I just want to...”

“Brood in your room alone? No. Come on.” Lance heaved one last time. Out of breath, “See. Hunk made cookies again.” Keith couldn't respond kindly, the cookies still looked like glass plates. Lance pulled his phone out to connect to speakers Hunk had made for his room ages ago.

Keith lounged on the other side of Hunk's cookies, eyeing them suspiciously. The speakers roared to life, deafening them as Lance scrambled to adjust the volume. Another soft swish, covered by the music playing, and Danea ducked into the room hiding against the wall. Pidge and Lance breathed a sigh of relief that she not only got their message but was able to make it. “Ok, what is going on?”

Lance exuberantly exclaimed, “You made it!”

She slid down the wall to a crouch, out of breath, “Vendel is circling the hallway with Shiro, Allura and Coran.” She'd shed her jacket when she'd claimed to Vendel she would get rest. Crystals glinted in the exceedingly bright light of the Castle of Lions. Unsure what to do she cautiously approached the couch and tray of cookies. “What is going on?”

Pidge set her laptop aside, “Good question. Lance?” Lounging back and dangling her legs over the couch she kicked the air lightly.

“Team building!” Lance spun around lavishly to the pop beat playing.

“What?” Keith groaned.

“Seriously?” Hunk questioned then fell onto the couch to read Pidge's screen.

“I'm out of here,” Keith hopped onto the ledge near the cookies and headed to the door. Danea took in the display apprehensively unsure if the mood change was because of her. Her anxiety peaked.

Yanking on Keith's jacket Lance forced him to sit again. “No, no, no. Hey, come on! Before we started this whole crazy thing we were going to go out on the town...”

“I wasn't even with you.” Keith retorted.

“No, I wasn't,” Pidge pointed at her laptop, “I was working on finding...I was working.”

Ignoring them, Lance continued, “Pick up some girls.”

Hunk mumbled, “Would have worked really well for Pidge.”

“Come on!” Lance's face started to burn, embarrassed that this was such a chore especially in front of their guest whom was standing uncomfortably near the group. Keith escaped the couch again, heading toward the door fuming. Lance chased down Keith stopping when a squeal from Danea pierced through the music.

Without a word she clambered against the base of the couch hugging at Pidge's legs. _Vendel._ Pidge positioned the laptop over Danea's head, hoping that between that and the girl plastered against the couch no one coming in the door would have a line of sight on her.

While rushing to the door Keith stopped short as it opened. He put on a terrible air of calmness, overtly trying to look casual. Lance played along, leaning into Keith's shoulder. Allura, first into the room, was shocked to see the Paladins lounging as they were and in particular Lance and Keith. “I thought I heard music.”

Shiro and Coran smirked at the irritated look Vendel gave the Paladins. “Should they not be in bed, resting? They are but children.”

Shiro stifled a laugh at Keith's rage burning very noticeably below the surface. “I wouldn't worry about them. The r&r is good for them.” He knew better than to bring up Danea. “What are you guys doing?” Smirking wider than he had in a long time was starting to hurt his face as Keith seethed.

“Team building!” Lance called out triumphantly irking Keith more.

“Team building is definitely...happening.” Keith sighed with resignation. Hunk couldn't keep his nerves in check under Vendel's scrutiny of their group and kept glancing at Pidge's computer.

Coran, sensing they were not wanted, tugged on Vendel and Allura's shoulders. “We should really keep discussing....”

“Yes,” Allura, already being guided out by Coran and Vendel, wished desperately to join them in their team building exercise. So far any Earth games they had explained to her had been far more interesting than she had anticipated.

Shiro gestured to the leaving party, “I will catch up in a minute. I need to talk to the other Paladins.” Vendel started another round of rousing discussion with Coran about the genetic trials the Mangalarians had been perfecting since the Galra incursion started. The door swished shut again as Shiro took in his team mates. The tension rose in the room, sweat starting to form on every Paladin's brow. Shiro casually walked around the couch even as Lance tried to convince him otherwise. Kindly, he bent down and smiled warmly at Danea, “Team building, huh?”

Waving timidly Danea let go of Pidge's leg, “Um, hello.” Shiro waved back holding his hand out to help her up.

Lance and Keith raced to explain but Shiro just calmed them, “I just have a few questions, if that is ok with you.” Unsure, she stood looking to Pidge for guidance but she only shrugged. “I won't tell, I promise.” Danea twisted her fingers avoiding any eye contact, his thoughts clearer than anything in the room. “No. I don’t believe anyone on our ship had contact with the Galra. But no, I can’t be sure.” As others before him, Shiro felt the unease of not having said the questions out loud but he kept a warm air about him to help her mood and keep her calm.

Lance turned the music off. He couldn’t help but exchange worried glances with his friends and a protective eye on Danea.

“Heh, have you seen one of these before?” He held out the Galra dampener tentatively, making sure it was off first.

“It looks like Vendel’s neural dampener he made after they found out I was telepathic.” Daring a glance up she settled a little and Shiro offered a consoling hand.

Waiting patiently she allowed him to continue, “This is a Galra device and is similar. Pidge and Hunk took a look at it. This caused you to pass out.” She'd been edging away from Shiro and the device so he stowed it. “Did you happen to glean anything from the soldiers when they were on board.”

She took her time mulling it over. “Something about experiments. And...uh,” Trembling crescendoed as her mind traveled back. Lance couldn't tell from his angle if she was sobbing. Shiro stayed Lance with a simple gesture. She could feel her heart race as it had that quintet scurrying through the ducts. Panic surrounded her making her feel as if she were trapped. She couldn't escape the panic as it cloyed at her making her chest feel heavy again. Shouting pierced her ears through the silent room. Galra and Mangalarian alike. The actual din of the battle raged once more in her ear as well as the cacophony of thoughts.

“It's ok,” Shiro took her hand gently jolting her from the memory, “you're doing great.”

“I'm sorry, it was very chaotic,” she offered weakly.

Shiro felt her return to the present, “Do you...”

Her patient demeanor returned, “I don't know how they found us.”

“Thank you,” he mouthed, audible only to her. Addressing the room Shiro instructed, “Teach her something fun. Something from Earth.”

Lance responded jubilantly, “Fun! Will do!”

Shiro exited quietly, back to assisting Allura and Coran with corralling their other guest for as long as possible.

Barely waiting a minute Keith headed for the door again. “Aaaaaaaand, I'm out,” but Lance barricaded the door.

“Come on! Look! I asked Hunk to make cookies!” Foot crawling up the door frame Lance's body blocked the entire door. Keith would have to climb over him or attempt to crawl under him and he was ready to kick him if he tried.

Hunk admired his beautiful creations as they sparkled in the overly bright light, “You did. I delivered.”

Pidge, thoroughly enjoying the bickering, “You were going to make them anyways. At breakfast you literally announced to the room, 'I perfected the cookie recipe. We eat cookies tonight!'.”

“Those words may have also...come from my mouth,” Hunk admitted sheepishly.

Keith, picking one up and tossing it to Hunk, “They still look like glass.”

“They do not!” Hunk tried a bite, “OW! Ok maybe they do.” Pidge snickered as Hunk mumbled, “Taste like glass still too. Ugh.”

Juggling his phone and pushing Keith back into the room, “And....and....,” he pushed a button repeatedly, “we have music!”Shoving, yanking and kicking, Keith couldn't make Lance move. “I can do this all night, you stupid mullet.” Pidge lamented her lack of popcorn, just this show was worth breaking Danea from her prison...or guest quarters. No one seemed to take notice of her fidgeting near the edge of the couch where Shiro had left her. She enjoyed watching the friendly fight, feeling their emotions and thoughts below the surface matched well with their actions. It was a welcome change from her crew. Her former crew.

“I don't dance.” Keith failing again at getting Lance out of the way, hopped back from a kick.

“Dance?” This piqued Danea.

A new reason to be enthused, Lance ushered Keith back to the couch. “Yes, dance! Let's dance. I can teach you all my fine moves!” He flashed a toothy grin.

Hunk groaned in response, “Ugh, no, don't encourage him.” Resigned, Keith sat next to Hunk eyebrow raised in question. “So, pretty much right after we met Lance would drag me places to meet girls. When we were sixteen we would sneak out and start hitting up some of the clubs and bars in town.”

“Fake I.D.s, really Hunk?” Pidge tutted.

Shrugging he replied, “Because you could have stopped him from dragging you out?” Pidge clamped her mouth shut. “Yea, thought so. Anyways, his favorite place was this dive...with the best sandwiches in the world...Charlie's.” Drool started to form at the thought and he sorely missed Earth now even more. Danea sat eagerly, listening to Hunk, as enraptured as the others. Pidge nudged him with her foot to move along the story, “Right, sorry.” He composed himself, “So anyways, Lance was always out picking up girls at bars, and with his accent,” Pidge and Keith were confused, he didn't have an accent. Danea giggled at Lance sitting next to her and reminiscing himself. A tug on her hair, Lance started playing with her hair, separating sections and braiding it carefully.

Her eyes closed and she could see him speaking to a girl, brunette, blonde, red haired, didn't matter, there were many, in Spanish. Breath warm as his lips were next to their ear. He'd draw her closer, dancing slowly when the music was appropriate. The mustiness of the bar surrounded him, her, food cooking, beer and soda spilling on the floor when people bumped into one another. Vivid and filling her senses.

Metal scraped along her head. She reached back and felt the pins that she'd lost earlier. Lance had retrieved them with Keith before they had returned and he worked at pinning up her new braids, two which crossed in the back. His mind traveled to a girl, younger than him, but a strong family resemblance. He sat on a wood floor braiding her hair or twisting it, tying it or some other manner of manipulation. The images carried sorrow and grief and happiness and it started to overwhelm her. And Lance.

Neither heard the rest of Hunk's story. Pidge hated it when Hunk rambled incessantly but let him go knowing that Lance might have needed a moment to collect himself. He always allowed her to take her time trying to find her family. A few nights she woke up in the Green Lion bay with a blanket, which Hunk seemed to know nothing about when asked. She didn't know much about his family but something seemed familiar. Like when Matt would help her with her hair when she was a kid.

Then a country song came on, “Seriously?” Pidge threw a cookie at Lance, “Country?” breaking his reverie.

Keith and Hunk were in agreement, “Oh my god, why would you even have this?” Hunk moaned. “You hate country music!”

Lance ignored their whining, “It's a good song to learn some dance moves.” Offering a hand to Danea he pulled her to her feet.

_I got that real good feel good stuff_

_Up under the seat of my big black jacked up truck_

_Rollin' on 35s_

_Pretty girl by my side_

Hips swaying to the beat Lance scooped Danea to him one hand clasping hers the other along her back. He led, though it was apparent he didn't need to for long. He felt a buzz, knowing she was sitting there in the back of his mind quietly watching what he was thinking and coming next.

_You got that sun tan skirt and boots_

_Waiting on you to look my way and scoot_

_Your little hot self over here_

_Girl hand me another beer, yeah!_

Lance stepped back, showing her how to spin to him and continued swaying to the music.

“He's not bad.” Pidge was impressed. Danea's mouth stretched, warm and brighter than she'd seen it yet. Lance, comfortable in a way she had not witnessed before, bobbed his head as he swung her around. He hugged her closer, his cheek resting on the top of her head.

Hunk found drinks that Lance had put out and passed them around, “It's so rare to see him stop flirting.”

Pidge accepted the drink, “What?”

“He just gave up. Weird.” Keith took a drink box too, questioning what Hunk was saying to himself.

_All them other boys wanna wind you up and take you downtown_

_But you look like the kind that likes to take it way out_

_Out where the corn rows grow, row, row my boat_

_Floatin' down the Flint river, catch yourself a little catfish dinner_

_Gonna sound like a winner, when I lay you down and love you right_

_Yeah, that's my kind of night!_

Lance garnered a giggle waggling his shoulders to the chorus.

“Just like his sister,” Hunk whispered low as he got off the couch. “You're doing it wrong!” He called out Lance and took Danea's hand.

“Wrong? Since when?” Lance had already lost his dance partner to Hunk in a rare move. Hunk gingerly took her hand, feeling an electric tingle, crossed his free arm over and spun her to him. “How do you know how to dance?”

Hunk, taking over, swayed her more gently than Lance, guiding her around the room. “Watched you enough. Plus my grandma.” He was not light on his feet like Lance, less razzle and dazzle. Lance felt oddly proud at this; there was no denying how much fun Hunk was having at that moment.

Lance held a hand out to Pidge, knowing full well she would say no and she did not disappoint. Keith offered a retaliatory kick when Lance glanced at him after all the damage he suffered minutes before.

Pidge curled into herself. She scrounged around in her mind trying hard to remember if Matt ever danced with her like that. He was a goofball, not unlike Lance at times, his brain was more in line with science, getting into the Garrison, girls. She didn't hear the song switch until Lance's hips got in the way, “Is that Shakira?”

\--

Allura combed her fingers through her curls, letting them bounce around as she roamed the castle. She had been fortunate not having aids like Vendel and pitied young Danea. He was a handful and keeping him busy had been tiresome. Coran and Shiro took the last varga worth of nitpicking and arguing. She'd gone off to freshen up.

Music and laughter filtered through the hall she was walking down, louder and more raucous than before. She peered in taking in the scene discreetly.

Pidge couldn't control her laughter while Danea tried to get her to move in the rhythm of the song and make a turn. Three tries later and she still couldn't hit the beat. The giggles likely didn't help.

“I thought you didn't know how to dance!” Pidge complained.

“She had the best teacher!” Lance finished another box of space juice.

“Thank you!” Hunk bowed graciously. Lance tossed the empty box at Hunk, missing only because he ducked. Deftly, Keith caught the box and set it in their pile of garbage.

“I didn't.”

Pidge grumbled, in a mostly lighthearted way, “Telepath.” Danea led Pidge in a circle, Pidge checking her feet constantly as her self-consciousness rose exponentially. She made it look as effortless as Lance and she hated that.

Hunk munched on snacks he purloined from Coran's, supposedly though not very secret, stash. “Can I ask a question without everyone yelling at me?” The lack of reaction from his friends made him continue, “You studied a lot about your home planet. Wouldn't there have been music and art?”

Pidge stopped shuffling expecting Danea would too, which she did only because Pidge stopped. “I am sure there is but none of that was in our history records. There were many writings, some prose and poetry. Mostly non-fiction and science.”

“That's strange. Teach you about a planet you are going to partially rule or whatever and not teach you everything about it?” Hunk seemed nonchalant about this even though it deeply bugged him. How could there be nothing if her ship was a life craft for the civilization.

Allura thought back to Marsa, their time together sneaking out of her family estate to hear the street musicians at night. It was the liveliest time in the Mangalarian capital. Music would fill the streets even near the High House estates. “Music was one of the richest, most memorable parts of being on Mangalar. ” Lance gaped, hoping they were not in trouble. “Oh,” she waved him off, “not to worry. Shiro asked that we keep Vendel distracted for you. My dear friend, Marsa, and I frequently eluded her security guards to attend festivals.”

Danea dropped Pidge's hand, hurrying to smooth her shirt, “You have been to Mangalar?”

Snagging her laptop, Pidge ushered the guys to the door, “We should really get some rest.”

Resisting Lance said, “I want to hear more about Allura sneaking out.” Keith dragged Lance by his hood, giving him long enough to stop the music and gather as much garbage as they could during Allura's pause. “It’s a whole new side of...ow!”

Lance and Hunk disposed of what they could, Hunk distressed that his latest cookie batch seemed to have not improved much from the first.

In the corridor they could hear Allura, “In the streets, even during the day time, there were many House Chie...”

“Good job,” Pidge said begrudgingly to Lance.

“For what?” Lance knew very well what and was asking for his ego. He got no reply and turned to see Pidge had disappeared down an adjoining corridor.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Song is "That's my kind of night" by Luke Bryan.


	7. Betrayed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Sorry about the delay on getting any chapters out. I was near the end (still at the end and epilogue) and a family member passed away. I will likely post several chapters close together. **

Pidge lost track of time. Tendrils of cords draped over her legs running along the floor from her laptop to the Altean consoles. Her eyes watered from lack of sleep and her bed called out to her. She'd been trying to focus on updating her hacking algorithms, streamline the process. She'd spent days sifting through the data she'd collected the last few times she'd hacked Galra tech and there were improvements to be made but her body disagreed. Her head lolled a couple times before she reread a line of code for the fourth time.

Vaguely she registered the bay door opening and closing. “Hunk, I am not going,” Pidge stuttered to a stop seeing Danea stare up into the eyes of the Green Lion. Danea appeared to be lost in thought, it was hard to tell if she even knew Pidge was sitting in the bay. Rubbing the exhaustion from her eyes, Pidge let her glasses fall to her nose and winced as they hit the bridge of her nose. Her corresponding yelp moved Danea. “I didn't mean to,” the smile she was met with stretched wide despite her weariness.

“Allura told me you would be here.” Danea, slow to move as she locked eyes with the Green Lion once more, eventually sat next to Pidge. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Pidge returned her bashful grin, “Yea, you're welcome.” She tried to concentrate on her program updates. Purple in her peripheral vision moved distracting her, the blue flashing furthering the distraction.

“What are you working on?” Pidge figured she probably already knew and ignored the question. Patiently, Danea waited.

Puffing out a breath, “You already know.” Pidge saw that twinkle in her eyes. “Why are you asking?”

Danea rested against the console, “I like hearing you...people talk.” She added, more embarrassed, “I also want people to feel normal,”

“Around you.” Pidge finished. Oops, she'd let her fatigue override her emotions. “Sorry.” She rubbed at her eyes again, willing them to dry, or tear up or something so that they were acting normal and she could work. A frustrated sigh escaped before she realized Danea was still waiting very patiently for an answer. “Did anyone tell you about our home planet?” Wisps of hair came loose when she shook her head. “We're kind of out here by accident. Our planet is not as space faring as all the civilizations we have met so far, yourself included. We had an expedition on a moon at the edge of our solar system. It was attacked by the Galra.” She hit the down arrow a couple times as she confirmed the code she was reading was correct and moved on, “Shiro was one of the members of that expedition. The other two members were my dad and brother.” Aggravated she bashed the key again, “They are still missing.”

\--

Pidge has been scrolling through photos she kept on her laptop. The photo was minimized, still clear in Pidge’s mind. Her mom had found a special one of Matt and her reading a book together. At least, that is what it looked like. She hadn’t told her mom what really happened, rarely did she do that. Her mom worried about her enough as it was; Pidge was not the most girly of girls and followed her brother and father’s footsteps so closely her mom didn’t quite know what to do at times. So, on the days when she was tormented by her classmates she rarely told her mom why, though her mom could always tell when something was wrong. That particular day she’d been figuring out an advanced mathematical problem that was part of a Garrison contest. Matt had won several awards for similar contests at her age and she knew she could do it. At lunch she sat alone and puzzled over the problem in a journal she kept, a roll dangling precariously from her mouth.

One of the guys who sat near her, constantly berating her, finished his food and had become bored with his friends. He found his new target, jarring her desk hard and purposely spilling the entire contents of his friend’s soup on her and her desk. The journal was a glorious mess and all her hard work was quickly becoming for naught.

“What the hell?” She screamed and it all fell apart from there. She tried to throw as much soup off the book at her attacker and the teacher threw her in detention. Matt didn’t bother asking, he could figure it out when he picked his sister up from school and walked home in silence.

“Soup huh?” He was met with a glare. She tossed her book bag at him, also sopping with soup. They both flopped into the grass of the front yard, emptying the contents of her bag on the lawn. She’d need a new history book, probably calculus too. The journal, which took the brunt of the soup, was unlikely to be salvageable but they could try to copy as much of her work as they could. “Hope mom isn’t making gumbo,” Matt said wryly.

“Not funny.” Pidge hoped she didn’t have chicken for a week, pieces of chicken stuck to her shirt still.

Matt bolted inside returning with a notebook and pens, “What were you working on?” Carefully prying pages apart he could make out diagrams and graphs, “Oh, is this the Garrison mathlete problem?” Pidge twisted her mouth sideways copying what she could remember and make out. “I bet you’ll get the trophy this year.”

“Why does it matter?”

“Why? Because it doesn’t make you popular with those jerks?” Matt gestured to the school, “Would being friends with them make you happy?” She grunted back, “I’m applying to the Garrison.”

“Really,” this perked her up.

“It’s a tough road to qualify and be accepted. Hoping I will….”

“You definitely will.” Pidge’s smile turned again, “Even that jackass' brother is in the fighter program at the Garrison.”

“You want to go? Be the woman that those fighters rely on! Engineering and communications are key. I mean, hell, they can't fly anything if the engineers don't make them, right? You…”

“Just need to keep your goal insight,” she finished.

“And work your ass off!” Matt chuckled. “Dad never said how much you have to work to get it!”

“No dates for you then!” Pidge playfully punched his arm.

Matt rolled over in the grass, sighing animatedly, “And there was the cutest girl at the admissions office!”

“You probably already scared her off, you weeb!” Pidge joked, returning to her normal self.

The picture had been taken minutes after when they were actually working on copying her notes.

Few seconds passed as Pidge recalled the memory and she felt Danea shift side to side next to her. Pidge, frustrated with the code and her emotions and lack of sleep waited for the iconic 'I'm sorry' that everyone fed her then felt even more flustered that Danea never said it. Pidge could only think that she looked contemplative when she felt her hand lifted off the keyboard. Danea pulled the laptop closer reading the code. Danea laid her free hand on the edge of the laptop and the code sprung to life, fingers tentatively interlaced with Pidge's. Code filtered across the screen, changes made and notated as best she could in an instant. It was stunning to see the code flash so quickly, mesmerizing even.

“What are you doing?” Pidge admired the flashing screen.

“Helping.”

Pidge felt Danea's mind wander, causing the code to falter and move slower. It felt like she was remembering something when she realized it was actually Danea's memory.

Danea crouched in the corner of the hydroponics bay, surrounded by plants and the ultraviolet lights. Warm and humid air clung to her, curling the pages of her book. The humidity from watering the plants made it harder to sketch. She came here for the privacy. She had just found out Ren had been killed in an accident and she was devastated. She needed to be alone, in a different way than normal. Ren was kind, kinder than most of the crew. He was fearful of her, she could sense that, despite that he would occasionally assist her in hydroponics since her rotation started. He held much guilt over how she was treated by the crew. He had been bullied by some of the incubation group for his size and lack of exceptional traits. Intellect wise, he was not the top, nor agility, nor speed, nor strength. He had faltered in sciences and mathematics. The elders on the ship had trouble placing him in an acceptable role and therefore he had hid in hydroponics. She knew if he'd spent enough time there he would have ended up here permanently.

Now that was not the issue. She turned to a particular page finding a sketch of the boy surrounded by plants.

Hydroponics bay doors opening startled her. Three of her mates were clearly on an errand to collect food for dinner. She didn't have time to scurry away and the biggest, Zari, caught sight of her. His sneer set her off internally even if she rarely showed it. He was the favorite to become head of security and tactics.

“Look what we found, the little prized mouse hiding in the plants.” He planted his foot in her chest, snagging her journal, “Ren? Really? You of all people are not allowed to miss him, you little...” his foot landed repeatedly into her rib cage. “You're the reason, always the reason...” his friends pulled him back, her journal sliding across the floor. Reaching for it had been a mistake. His friends couldn't control his feet, he smashed her hand breaking several bones. “Too bad. We should have killed you...” they were able to throw him back as Danea rolled into the wall, pain blinding her. Water was precious on their ship, not that that stopped Ren from taking the journal to the water container and ripping pages into the water one by one as tears rolled down Danea's face. “One day we will. Make it look just like an accident.”

“We have to get dinner, Zari,” His friend shook Zari. “Let's go.”

“No one's coming to save you.” Zari sneered on his way out.

No one ever really came to help her before Pidge realized. Not until today. Pidge didn't say much as the code sped up again. She could see Danea's face harden, concentrating on the code and trying to push out to other thoughts that had surfaced.

Barely a few minutes had passed and Pidge's head slumped onto Danea's shoulder with a soft snore rattling her glasses.

Danea read the amount of memory on the small computer. It was not nearly enough for an information transfer. She couldn't risk accessing the Altean systems. Not that she was doing something wrong, it could be misinterpreted and, of course, then Vendel would know and there would be (as the Paladins put it) hell to pay. Resting her head on Pidge's, she selected a crystal out of noticeable view and began memory transfer.

 

–

Lance crouched, taking a few pictures.

“She might maim you for that.” Hunk said between mouthfuls of food.

The two were slumped together snoring quietly. Each of the Paladins took turns waking Pidge in her Lion’s bay on a daily basis. Lance couldn’t get over how adorable the two were as they slept. “It would be worth it.”

Keith waited at the door knowing that Pidge would be cranky when awoke, “Isn’t that breakfast for them?”

Hunk swallowed the last mouthful, “Yeah, it was.”

“You ate it all?”

“There is more in the mess.” Hunk licked the spoon, “they slept through breakfast.”

“You were eating it on the way here.” Keith pointed out inopportune things at generally the most inopportune times.

Lance jiggled Pidge and Danea carefully. “Hey,” he whispered, Pidge’s knee jerk reaction would have made you think he yelled. The sudden movement startled Danea awake too. “Vendel is looking for you.” Lance said sympathetically.

Strange strings of foreign words slung together as she handed over the laptop and untangled herself from the cords. Lance quelled her anxiety, “Allura forged a note that you couldn’t sleep and Hunk and Pidge gave you an engineering lesson.” Calming down, Danea kept pace with Hunk as he traced his way back to the mess for breakfast.

“So, what did you do to my code?” Pidge caught up after freeing herself from the cords and laptop.

“Not that much. Incorporated some of the Galra code you downloaded and made it more robust. It should...uh….hack more quickly and covertly use their own security protocols against them.” Danea avoided eye contact as much as possible.

Pidge, sly as ever, “Did you read the other stuff on the hard drive?”

Hunk flinched, remembering Pidge scream at him for reading her journal and expected the same. “N-no.”

“Oooooooh,” slipped from Hunk. He smacked his mouth hard when he went to cover his mouth. “I mean...wow...I mean...I don't know why I said that.”

 

–

Vendel enlarged the view of the solar system they had just entered, Coran detailing the ideal positions for the Leviathan to hide but also have access to the sun light for an appreciable amount of time per quintet. Coran, thoroughly exhausted from the number of arguments with Vendel, deferred to him for the final resting place.

Each Paladin took their place at their respective consoles in a far quieter fashion than usual.

Vendel took in the young Mangalarian, “Late night engineering lesson?”

Without missing a beat, “Those sleep aids are ineffective.” Shiro heard a confidence from the girl he hadn't heard before.

“You have not cycled to engineering yet.” Vendel replied, backing down just the slightest.

Danea enlarged the view, “Moira will be subject to too much radiation.”

Shiro admired her, radiating pride as he said, “Sounds like a new chief engineer already.”

Vendel clapped a hand to her shoulder, “Moira can withstand the radiation, as can we in the shielded bridge.” Reasserting his position, “Move Moira into position. Get your things, we are preparing to leave.”

Shiro couldn’t blame her for sighing.

 

\--

Danea ran to the guest room to gather her jacket and knife. Her journal was another story. She’d seen it, where had she seen it? Hunk, it was sitting next to Hunk the night before. Dashing off she retrieved that next.

She could feel the large ship stop at the agreed coordinates. Time. She needed more time. At the next control panel she gathered her location versus Pidge’s Lion bay and the medical bay. They were farther apart than she liked. Vendel would look for her soon enough and the internal sensors could pinpoint her at Vendel’s whim. Moira’s sensors wouldn’t be able to give him as accurate a location. Temporarily, she forced the sensors of the castle to display readings from fifteen doboshes earlier. She hoped the Paladins would not be angry.

\--

 

Vendel loathed being followed again, these people were infuriatingly incessant. Coran set the airlock up, his little Paladin entourage watching and learning. Vendel anxiously awaited re entering his ship as he double checked the helmet he had brought. It was unclear if the environmental system was truly working properly and he wanted to be safe if there was still no breathable atmosphere. Even so, he only had a small recycle unit and no additional oxygen reserves.

With the airlock open Vendel was realizing Danea should have been back to this bay by now. “Danea, can you hear me? Where are you?”

Panting could be heard, “I am just retrieving my notes.”

“Hurry. I am going on board to start bringing systems online.” Vendel turned to Coran. “Atmosphere?”

\--

`Grunting Danea dropped the knife onto the med bay table. She had lucked out, she probably still sounded out of breath from running around the ship. Now she was panting for a new reason. The crystal came loose slick with blood. Stuffing a rag on the wound she tried activating the Altean healing device. A few passes were enough to stop the blood flowing so freely and dull the pain enough to keep moving.

She'd stolen a piece of wire in the Lion bay. After cleaning the crystal she wrapped it, added a string and headed to her ship.

\--

Something about Pidge was bothering Lance, he just couldn't place it. “What's up?” She typed fast, trying to ignore Lance. “She's really sweet. Kind of cute too.” Lance attempted getting a rise out of Pidge, a reaction. “Too bad she only got to stay one night.”

Pidge showed him her laptop, “Maybe not.” Lance scanned the screen but was not sure what he was even looking at. “Ugh, it's the internal sensors, they are running on a delay. We wouldn't do that. So,” Pidge hoped he would actually be able to finish her thought.

Lance scoffed, “Come on. You don't think she did it.” Pidge couldn't hide her obvious disappointment. “Even after...she wouldn't...how do you know it was her?”

“Vendel's been with us and not at a console. Happened recently.” Pidge snatched her computer back, sulking again.

\--

Danea sprinted into the bay, sliding to a halt a few feet from the group. She could sense Vendel was on his way back to the Altean ship. Cursing the short amount of time she walked straight to Pidge, covertly dropping the necklace into the hand behind her back, which had been tugging anxiously at her shirt. Her and Lance, she could feel disappointment, anger and frustration as she passed through them. She was too late. They’d found her adjustment to the sensors.

_'Please don’t say anything. Show this to Allura after we have disengaged. I am sorry.'_

Meeting Pidge’s glare hurt. She felt betrayed. She burned with hatred at trusting the Mangalarian. There was nothing she could do either. Vendel was getting closer. Bowing low, “I would like to thank you for your hospitality, your aid and,” a crack snapped her attention to the Leviathan's bay and Vendel. His boot rapped on the floor.

“We must be leaving.” Startling everyone, Vendel also bowed, “Thank you.”

Shiro regained his own composure, “You’re welcome.”

Allura added, “Please, it was our pleasure to help. I know that you may not be in a position now but I hope that you will one day join our fight against the Galra empire.”

Danea, bent in her bow, scowled at Vendel’s reaction, “We wish you luck. However we must make sure Mangalar has a future as well.” Vendel stood tall, “I know you think me cruel, she is just a child. She was designed to free our planet, lead us to...to…she must be protected at all costs. What you perceive as cruel we did for our future. Are still doing. If we free Mangalar,” his words drifted off, thoughtfully to the future.

Guilt spread in Danea’s chest. In all her years she’d never heard Vendel say anything as heartfelt as this. His thoughts were always closed to her but she could feel, even now, the concern he felt.

\--

Pidge mulled over the morning. She hadn’t told anyone but Lance about the sensors, fixing them quickly and quietly. She turned the crude necklace over in her hand. They’d disengaged the Leviathan after confirmation they had working environmental systems and at least minimal power to keep them alive while Moira healed herself. It was going to be several days of sitting around. Allura promised to check in with them even with Vendel grumbling it could lead someone to their location. Pidge hadn’t said a word to them before they left. Her cold thoughts said enough.

Lance chatted near her distracting her enough to receive an annoyed slap when he touched a control on her console.

“What is that?” Lance had caught sight of the glint off the crystal. The cord wrapped around her fingers so she couldn’t lose it. “You don’t wear jewelry.”

“No.” Pidge pondered, “I think I was wrong to be angry with her.”

She’d forgotten she wasn’t alone with Lance. Hunk asked, “Angry with who?”

“You’ve been distracted all morning,” Shiro commented.

Pidge stared into the cerulean depths, “Sensors were tampered with this morning.”

“What?” Coran screeched.

“Are you sure? Do you know who did it?” Shiro worried with Coran.

Lance tried to see the stone closer not realizing he probably should not say, “Pidge thinks Danea did it.”

“Really?” Keith’s voice also hinted at being disappointed.

Lance retorted, “You can’t honestly think she did it maliciously?”

“I don’t know what to think.” Pidge turned the crystal over again. She couldn’t place it. It was familiar, she knew that.

Allura chewed her lip. She could not fathom the young girl, so much like her friend they could have been clones, doing something to hurt them. “That is an upsetting assertion to make.”

Hunk tapped a few controls, “Yea, well she was bleeding again. Girl certainly knows how to get hurt.” He hoped he knew what he was reading. He had to be getting better at reading Altean by now. Some signal was coming through, that was what he was looking at….maybe. “Maybe it was an accident. You know...the sensor thing.”

“She accidentally made the sensors display delayed data?” There it was. It clicked. The necklace was crude, hastily made. It wasn’t royal blue or backlit. The art in that journal wasn’t, it was created tenderly, with attention to detail. “Damn it.”

“Yea, well if she got hurt and touched...you know what. She has all those crazy quiznaking powers that I don’t understand. Maybe she was confused and...what?” Hunk saw the necklace. “What’s that? You don’t wear jewelry.”

Pidge leaped over her console, “No, I don’t. Allura,” She made a beeline to the center console, “I have a question.”

 

 


	8. Taken

Pilot's slumped body over the console put Danea on edge. Unfortunately, the small bridge was the most shielded room in the Leviathan. Vendel was making rounds to check his labs, verify any of his viable experiments were still online and gather food for their next meal. She was left to her own devices, tidying up her hiding place, checking sensors, taking vitals for the ship and Pilot.

All made more difficult with an endless tone blaring. It started just after Vendel brought up the main systems, all of which had been offline since the Galra attack. Her stomach did flips and whatever food she ate this morning was not enjoying the ride. Roaming the bridge she felt more sick the closer she got to the Central Nexus.

Another mind splitting migraine pierced her. She fell in the threshold and tried to crawl forward, clawing at the floor panels. Only a few ticks later she passed out.

 

\--

“Where did you get this?” Allura held the jewel to a light.

“Is it one of hers? Can we read it?” Pidge insisted.

Allura dropped the crystal in Pidge's open hand. “She gave it to you?” Allura appeared to be holding back tears. She bit at a finger, “I can't believe it. It's so rare, I mean royal houses in particular never give out,” Pidge's annoyance was turning to rage.

“She gave this to me for a reason.” Pidge twisted the fabric of her sleeve, remorse filling her. “I shouldn't have been angry, she...why would she...these are connected to nerve fibers.” Allura nodded, letting Pidge ramble. “What if she's trying to tell us something?”

Hunk scrolled through the readings he'd been stuck on, “This signal is trying to tell me something. It's like it's Galra.”

Allura reassured her, “They are connected to nerve fibers. My understanding is to remove one is a painful procedure with much circumstance surrounding it. My father received one...oh.” Her eyes widened.

Coran understood, “There may be an old crystal reader of your father's in storage. He did take that crystal everywhere.” Minutes later Coran returned with a small circular plate, as many Altean devices looked. Pidge tugged on her sweater sleeve, hem, anything she could while it took Coran near an eternity to connect the reader.

The base lit with a blinding white light until she placed the crystal on the base. Light concentrated at the crystal as it pulsed during memory retrieval. The projections used for astrometrics turned on with the bridge darkening considerably.

Danea's voice, though more mechanical than when she spoke, came from the console.

“If my thoughts are scattered, I apologize. Recording thoughts like this is not particularly easy. And I feel I must apologize now for any deceit I made to get this to you. There may also be the need to apologize because I may have seen more of the contents of your computer hard drive than intended. I would have made a data transfer to your device but there was not nearly enough memory storage.” Pidge's heart sank further regretting her anger earlier in the morning.

“I can't thank you enough. You have been,” Keith joined Pidge at the console watching the little blue flickering light as if it were the Danea, as if she were shaking her head trying to find the best words. The hesitation dragged out as if she’d erased some of the recording not satisfied with the words she could find. “I told you I wanted to help. I loaded as much as I could think via a mobile uplink I keep with Moira’s memory stores. It was how I accessed the histories I used to read.

“First I included the Mangalarian texts we had available. More than you may find interesting is about genetic engineering and biology but there are texts about our other sciences, mathematics and even some literature. These have gotten me through the longest quintants and maybe they can do the same for you.”

Icons of books spread around the room, more texts than any one person could count quickly. The interface similar to the Allura’s astrometric displays, Pidge touched a book icon and it opened for her to read. Lance and Keith marveled at the volumes, text alien and indecipherable.

“Second,” the book icons disappeared from the room, “I included as many translation matrices and code as I could find. Translation matrices for some languages may be more up to date than your ship’s, considering it was idle for 10,000 decophoebs. A few I stole on my trips to the space stations I made.” Shiro stole a glance at the Paladins, each smirking. “You may be able to incorporate them into the Castle of Lions and your own programs from Earth, though the memory requirements may hinder that.” Code in many alien languages came up all over the room in windows. Pidge was speechless; overwhelmed by the information. She touched a window and the text scrolled, changing instantaneously from whatever language to English. She scanned the code and recognized it to be security protocols. More in depth than ones she had seen before. And Galra. She had pulled Galra codes, security and communications, from a ship.

“Lastly,” the windows blinked out of existence, “the largest download was our logs.” A single window appeared near Pidge and Allura. The single window seemed inconsequential compared to the other data. Lance joined Pidge and Keith near the forward console. Pidge selected the top item in the Mangalarian list. “It is our astrometric logs. Moira is our second ship, the logs unfortunately only span the last two thousand decophoebs.”

“Unfortunately?” Lance spit.

“It may not be coded to your desire but I kept notes. We came across supply routes, invasion fleets and science expeditions. There have also been pockets of resistance. All are marked such that we avoided contact with their fleets.”

The room filled with a map of a nearby galaxies. Purple lines cut through two sections, dated only movements ago as supply chain routes. Her eyes stung, tears threatening to spill over.

“I truly believe you are going to free the universe from the Galra. But more importantly, I want you to find your family.” The audio left the room hollow. She'd just disappeared. Again. This time without the resentment Pidge felt.

Lance cut through her haze, “Guys! This is the next system over! Look, it is one of the biggest supply routes we've seen yet for the Galra. I think it runs near the Balmera, or did.” Lance traced a purple line across the room.

A green triangle caught Pidge's attention near the console. “Did you see this? It’s a science base! I wonder what they are studying.” Tapping icon brought up the date of their encounter. “Science base.” She became preoccupied again as the others chatted happily. “Huh, Moira spent a lot of time in this sector.” Scanning the room caused her anxiety to sky rocket. The dates were all in the last several decophoebs, they’d kept close to this sector of space. That didn’t seem particularly safe.

Shiro waded through the projections. “These fleet movements. She detailed the number of ships in each...this is labeled as an invasion fleet.” Enlarging the fleet enhanced the details including the number of ships. An arrow darted through Shiro, “And estimated destination.”

Coran read, “Oh….it was five movements ago.”

The sheer amount of information would take weeks or months to wade through but it also gave Pidge more hope than she could have imagined.

Hunk shouted over the chatting, “Guys! We need to go back to the Leviathan.”

Lance, only paying partial attention, “Yeah, we should thank her or…”

“No there is a Galra distress signal.” Hunk overrode the lights and put his display up on the main screen.

Keith, annoyed at the interruption, responded, “The Galra don’t use distress signals. Victory or death.”

Hunk jabbed at the screen, “The ship translated this signal that I found, it’s Galran and reads like a distress signal, coming from the Leviathan! Oh, no no no! Now there is a Galra cruiser too.” Hunk fretted. “The cruiser is holding position at the Leviathan.”

Shiro checked their distance. They were not as far out as he expected, “Everyone to their lions!”

I’ll bring the ship about!

\--

She blinked and her surroundings changed drastically. One blink and she could still see Pilot, next blink she was in the corridors away from the bridge. The deafening tone was dying down, a roaring rush and distorted voices beating her eardrums.

A soldier, Galra, turned her head side to side, waiting for her to regain consciousness. “I don’t feel like carrying her.”

“Where is the other one?” She blinked again not hearing the response.

Conscious enough to walk the soldiers were guiding her through hallways. Her shoulders ached. Cuffs digging into her wrists. Danea tripped over her feet and fell into a soldier in front of her. His quick temper spiked, he crushed her shoulder in his hand to lead her into his ship. “Better be worth all this trouble.”

\--

Lance drove the controls forward, racing Keith to the Galra, “It’s just the one cruiser.”

Red Lion pulled ahead of Lance and Blue, “No fighters yet.” Keith pulled up sensors.

Lance scanned the black void for signs of the Galra, “There is no way they haven’t seen us yet.”

Hunk pushed Yellow as hard as he would go, “Thank you, Lance! Look! Fighters! You had to say something!”

Shiro added, “ I think I would have been more worried if they didn’t send out any fighters.” Pulling back on his speed Shiro climbed above the other Lions providing cover fire. “Their fighters seem thin.”

Pidge loaded the charts they’d been reading on the Castle. The map opened on everyone’s display, “Guys, there was a science base not far from here. What if they are from that base?”

Shiro continued laying down cover fire while Keith and Lance dove into the fighters, “A science base? That might explain their defenses.”

Hunk deflected several blasts, explosions cascading around him, “We need a plan.” This would be more drawn out than previous cruiser attacks. It would have been easy, a single cruiser with very little defenses and no backup to speak of, at least no outgoing transmissions for backup. “Hey, why aren’t they calling for backup?”

Pidge circled around the far side of the Leviathan shooting down several fighters in her path, “No idea. I didn’t even work on jamming any outgoing signals...yet.” She let go of her controls to punch commands, “Now I am. That distress call is cut off.” Blasts rocked the Green Lion. She caught her self with her controls. “We need to know where Danea and Vendel are.”

The Castle of Lions loomed near the battle, providing cover fire as needed though careful not to inflict too much damage to the Galra cruiser. Coran's voice crackled over their comms, “Sensors are picking one Mangalarian on the cruiser and one on Moira.”

“What do we do? Split up?” Hunk called out. Yellow Lion took a hard hit, rattling him. The Red Lion swung around Hunk taking out the two fighters barraging Yellow.

The fighters were thin, stragglers using the two ships for cover. “Coran, can you tell who is on the cruiser?” Shiro caught another fighter but his blasts were getting dangerously close to the Leviathan for his comfort.

“No, the ship’s sensors can’t differentiate,” Coran apologized.

Lance created a sheet of ice between some asteroids. One of the remaining fighters shattered it ticks later to get to Lance, in the tick it was above Moira Keith shot it down. Black Lion stalked around the side of the cruiser with Green Lion, “Keith and I will clear the Leviathan. Lance, Hunk and Pidge get on that cruiser. Extract whoever is on board.” Pidge aimed at the engines, Green making vines twist out of the engine exhaust ports. Black drew out the last fighter, picking him out of the wreckage of the engine. The cruiser would be dead in space for the time being.

Grumbling, “Just say it, we all know they took Danea.” Lance joined with Pidge and Hunk in formation flying toward the cruiser.

“Bring her back.” Black Lion banked left with Red.

“Good, I didn’t want to save that…”

“Enough Lance.” Shiro growled.

 

 

 


End file.
